ETON PORTRAIT By Bernard Fergusson
Mr. Fergusson has succeeded in an almost impossible task. He has set out to describe, simply and with exactitude, the whole life of Eton—boys, masters, work, games, " notions " and all. He himself was in Sixth Form apparently some nine years ago, but his account holds good, with minor alterations, for the whole post-War period. Marionettes and handicrafts would seem, from his pages, to play a larger part in school life than they did fifteen years ago, but the main currents are unaltered. Only in his section on cricket is Mr. Fergusson's portrait out of focus ; he clearly has little knowledge of, or sympathy with, the game, and his references to George Hurst (sic) will make many a drybob wince. The printing and binding of the book are first rate. The chapter by Mr. Philip Brownrigg on College is far and away the best concise account yet written of that august body, and the photo- graphs by L. Moholy-Nagy are so excellently verisimilar that one feels he must have taken them wearing either a scug cap or a cloak of invisibility. Those of hats outside a schoolroom and caps and scarves hanging on the wall are the most nostalgic. Eton Portrait (John Miles. 15s.) will delight all Old Etonians, and should give both amuse- ment and instruction to many lesser breeds.
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