Chums

An extraordinary book ... I got angrier and angrier and angrier as I read it -- Alastair Campbell
A searing onslaught on the smirking Oxford insinuation that politics is all just a game. It isn't. It matters -- Matthew Parris
A devastating portrait of the arrogant rogues and chancers who have spent the past thirteen years playing at politics instead of governing -- Andrew Scull, 'Best Books of 2023' * TLS *
A gripping read ... exquisite and depressing in equal measure -- Matthew Syed * Sunday Times *
A sparkling firework of a book -- Lynn Barber * Spectator *
Incisive, insightful and timely -- Richard Beard * New Statesman *
Fascinating ... The picture Kuper draws is of a nation with a decadent and deeply unprofessional ruling class, a diagnosis with which it is impossible to disagree -- Hugo Rifkind * The Times *
Immensely entertaining ... a tremendous romp jam-packed with delicious indiscretions -- Tim Luckhurst * Daily Mail *
A brilliant book -- John Harris * Guardian Weekly Politics podcast *
A penetrating analysis of the connections that enabled an incestuous university network to dominate Westminster and give birth to Brexit ... perceptive and full of surprises -- Tim Adams * Observer *
Johnson, Cameron, Rees-Mogg, Gove and Cummings all feature in this look at the hidden depths of our current political establishment and its inextricable link to Eton and, in particular, Oxford University -- 50 Best Books for Summer 2022 * Sunday Times *
Shows how the culture of Oxford decisively influenced the tone of British politics and led to Brexit. Brilliantly written, it gripped me -- Paschal Donohoe * Irish Times *
Kuper is alert to the deficiencies of the Oxford Union style, the tendency to substitute some glib debating point for hard-headed analysis ... Engagingly brief with delightful details -- Andrew Gimson * Conservative Home *
Intellectually bracing ... a deep dive into the culture of the upper-crust public schools and university that produced ten of the UK's 15 post-war prime ministers -- Andrew Lynch * Business Post *
Elegant, witty, economical ... it is absurd how much influence this tiny, moneyed circle has been able to wield, and deeply depressing -- Zoe Williams * TLS *
Chums is not just about the smallness of Britain's privileged elite or the early advantages it enjoys. Simon Kuper goes further ... to critique a system that attaches more importance to winning debates than shaping policy -- Mike Phipps * Labour Hub *
The best ever written dissection of the formation for what passes as the modern Tory Party's leadership * Philosophy Football *
A snapshot of a time gone by, bringing alive 1980s Oxford in vivid detail ... a thrilling read -- Daniel Dipper * Higher Education Policy Institute *
Engaging and detailed ... [This] may be the last generation of such Oxford Tories, yet their policies may well influence the United Kingdom for generations -- Andrew Moravcsik * Foreign Affairs *
[A] highly entertaining, and often infuriating examination of the clique of Oxford Tories that gave us Brexit * Irish Times *
Praise for The Happy Traitor: Kuper provides a different and valuable perspective, humane and informative -- John Le Carré
Truly enthralling ... a deeply human read, wonderfully written, on the foibles of a fascinating, flawed, treacherous and sort of likeable character -- Philippe Sands
The most comprehensive and insightful biography to date -- Ben Macintyre
Readers who prefer their politics polemical (and Britain in Europe) need look no further than Simon Kuper * Times Best Political and Current Affairs Books of 2022 *