Musa Okwonga – a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town – was not your typical Eton College student.
The experience moulded him, challenged him… but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seems to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit, and between his home town in the suburbs of Greater London and the rise of the far right.
Woven throughout this deeply personal and unflinching memoir of Musa’s five years at Eton in the 1990s is a present-day narrative which engages with much wider questions about pressing social and political issues: privilege, the distribution of wealth, the rise of the far right in the UK, systemic racism, the ‘boys’ club’ of government and the power of the few to control the fate of the many. One of Them is both an intimate account and a timely exploration of race and class in modern Britain.
Musa Okwonga – a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town – was not your typical Eton College student.
The experience moulded him, challenged him… but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seems to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit, and between his home town in the suburbs of Greater London and the rise of the far right.
Woven throughout this deeply personal and unflinching memoir of Musa’s five years at Eton in the 1990s is a present-day narrative which engages with much wider questions about pressing social and political issues: privilege, the distribution of wealth, the rise of the far right in the UK, systemic racism, the ‘boys’ club’ of government and the power of the few to control the fate of the many. One of Them is both an intimate account and a timely exploration of race and class in modern Britain.
Journalist and poet Musa Okwonga explores the effect of toxic institutions on Britain’s political life through the lens of his time at Eton as a young Black man
Musa Okwonga is a poet, journalist, broadcaster, musician, social commentator, football writer and consultant in the fields of creativity and communications. He has written on identity, sport, culture and society for a range of publications including Africa Is a Country, The Economist, ESPN, Foreign Policy, the Guardian and the New York Times. He has written and presented essays and programmes for BBC Radio and lectured at several universities. He was one of the contributors to The Good Immigrant.
@Okwonga
'The memoir I've enjoyed most this year' Hilary Mantel 'Moving ...
stays with you long after you've finished it' Nigella Lawson 'A
superb memoir ... written with a poet's lyricism and a journalist's
clarity' Nish Kumar 'An urgent exposition on how [Eton]’s undue
influence is shaping political forces - from the current government
and Brexit to the rise of nationalist and racist politics' Stylist
'Okwonga is a writer worth waiting half a century for' New
Statesman 'Fascinating insight into the workings of one of the most
exclusive, secretive and privileged institutions on earth' Robert
Verkaik, author of Posh Boys 'Writing that holds and ambushes you
in turn ... a portrait of the allure of institutional power' Vinay
Patel 'Raw evidence of the power of resilience and determination
and hope ... a blistering memoir' Salena Godden 'Frank, fascinating
and unique ... essential reading' Hashi Mohamed, author of People
Like Us 'A nuanced and complex account' Daily Telegraph
'The memoir I've enjoyed most this year' Hilary Mantel'Moving ...
stays with you long after you've finished it' Nigella Lawson'A
superb memoir ... written with a poet's lyricism and a journalist's
clarity' Nish Kumar'An urgent exposition on how [Eton]'s undue
influence is shaping political forces' Stylist'Lyrical, often
funny, intensely personal and undeniably thought-provoking'
Literary Review'A nuanced and complex account' Daily Telegraph
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