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Mr Crabtree has just arrived to take over as headmaster at Weatherhill, an English public school whose reputation is on the decline, and with the help of his meddlesome wife and odious daughter, he is determined to turn things around. But Crabtree is totally devoid of either sympathy or understanding and his misguided efforts lead to hilarious disasters, such as when he invites a girls’ school for tea to try to woo the boys from their ‘unnatural ways’. Meanwhile, Mrs Crabtree is infatuated with the chaplain, whose sermons about ‘the burning fire’ are a source of constant merriment to the boys, and Dr Kingsly is arranging the annual school play, not thinking of how the homophobic Crabtree will react to seeing the boys dressed as girls. Bit there are also movingly drawn gay characters - Eric Ashley, a brilliant young teacher, is struggling to come to grips with his homosexuality, and Carleton, a handsome clever senior boy, who finds himself strangely drawn to Allen, a fellow member of the cricket team. This attraction is mutual and the two carry on a clandestine affair.
Widely praised on its initial publication in 1967 by the likes of Iris Murdoch, Christopher Isherwood, Anthony Burgess and Angus Wilson, 'Lord Dismiss Us' was considered one of the finest novels about English public school life. This new edition is the first time it has been reprinted in three decades. This edition includes a new introduction by Dennis Drabelle, award-winning critic and contributing editor to The Washington Post Book World.
Author: Michael Campbell
Paperback, 390 Pages, Orig. Publ. 1967, This Edition Published 2014