Chums (Hardback)

A searing onslaught on the smirking Oxford insinuation that politics is all just a game. It isn't. It matters - Matthew Parris

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