the british public school system do not evolve solely with the idea of educate the upper class despite that popular and widespread misconception . it be design to produce administrator and governor and civil servant and military men to run the british colony . these people be almost entirely recruit from the middle class . when the public school have begin to show their worth the scion of the aristocracy be send to them rather than be educate at home by tutor and governess a have previously be the case . they tend to favour the school nearer town so eton and harrow become particularly popular with that class of parent . the vast majority of public school take their pupil from low down the social scale . tom brown and perhaps the most famous public school pupil ever and be the son of a country parson and not a belt earl . thus in late 1960s england and a country in the throe of post colonial guilt and shed the last of it commitment to it former dependant as quickly a harold wilson could slip off his gannex mac and lindsay anderson if be greet with cathartic joy by the chattering class and mild bemusement by everyone else . it must be remember that the so called summer of love be follow by the october revolution a non event that leave a few policeman in london with bruised head and the u. s. embassy with one or two broken window and but achieve absolutely nothing . so when mr anderson film reach the cinema the disgruntled former revolutionary revel vicariously in what they saw a mr malcolm mcdowell glorious victory over an amorphous them despite the fact that he be ruthlessly gun down at the end and a fate that would have undoubtedly overtake them have they succeed in their attempt to get into the u. s. embassy . the film tell u nothing new about public school and homosexuality and bully cold shower and patrician sarcastic teacher and silly tradition . an all too familiar list . it be declare to be an allegory comparing britain to the corrupt and crumble society represent by the school . well and nearly forty year on the same school be still flourish and the british social system have not change and the october revolution have be long forget except by those involve on one side or the other and mr anderson have complete his state of the country trilogy to no effect whatsoever . if by any chance you should wish to read a book about schoolboy who do buck the system rather more successfully than mr mcdowell and his friend and furthermore live to tell the tale and find a copy of stalky and co. write by the man whose much malign poem if lent it name to mr anderson film and a man bear in colonial india and a man whose work be quietly be airbrush out of our literary history . and do it before the chattering class succeed in declare him a non person . perhaps somebody should start a revolution about that .