Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system

It wasn’t just luck that steered the Guardian columnist to Oxford and into a media career ... She reflects on the subtle mechanics of class (and an early encounter with a naked future PM)Children know. They breathe it in early, for there’s no unknowing the difference between nannies, cleaners, below-stairs people and the family upstairs. Children are the go-betweens, one foot in each world, and yet they know very well from the earliest age where they belong, where their destiny lies or, to put it crudely, who pays whom. Tiny hands are steeped young in the essence of class and caste. In nursery school, in reception they see the Harry Potter sorting hat at work. They know. And all through school those fine gradations grow clearer, more precise, more consciously knowing, more shaming, more frightening. Good liberal parents teach their children to check their privilege – useful modern phrase – but it swells up like a bubo on the nose. There’s no hiding it.I can summon up the childhood shame at class embarrassments. Aged seven like me, Maureen, with her hair pinned sideways in a pink slide, lived in a pebble-dashed council house by the water tower. They were at the other end of Lindsey, more hamlet than village, half a mile down the road from my father’s pink thatched cottage set in the flat prairie lands of Suffolk, where I spent half my time, the other half in London, shuttling between divorced parents. I envied Maureen for what looked to me like a cheerful large family... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 12:00:56 UTC ]
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J.K. Rowling's Website Starts Selling Harry Potter E-Books

It didn't take a Hogwarts magician to know this day would eventually come. The bookstore feature of J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website went live Tuesday, enabling English-language readers to buy the digital editions of all seven Harry Potter novels—and the audiobook editions—from anywhere in the... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Council responds to criticism over LBF line-up

The British Council has responded to criticism from exiled Chinese poet and essayist Bei Ling... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Reading for My Life,' essays by John Leonard

This is a brilliant collection of writings on politics, social and cultural engagement and literary life.Reading for My Life Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo plans marketing push to bolster British sales

E-bookseller Kobo plans to grow device sales in the UK with a strong marketing push towards the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Moodie leaves DK to start digital consultancy

Justin Moodie is leaving DK to start up his own digital consultancy, moving from his role as... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BA aims to kick-start indie ebook sales

The Booksellers Association is in “advanced” talks with two companies over an ebook... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble, Taking On Amazon in the Fight of Its Life

As Barnes & Noble fights for its future, the publishing industry is holding its breath. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sherborne start for Winstone indie venture

Wayne Winstone, former head of children's books for Ottakar's and Waterstones and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital start-ups swell IPG membership

Eighty publishers have joined the Independent Publishers Guild this year, with digital companies... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mainstream to publish "street-smart" guide to single life

Mainstream has bought a book aimed at guiding modern single girls on their search for love, to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Murdoch Resigns From British Newspaper Boards

James Murdoch stepped down as director of two subsidiaries that publish Murdoch-owned newspapers, a move that could possibly presage News Corporation’s eventual exit from British newspapers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Xmas starts now as campaigns begin

Written By: Lisa Campbell, Graeme Neill and Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 10:27 W H Smith has fired the starting pistol for festive promotions, with Waterstone’s, Amazon.co.uk, Blackwell, John Smith and Foyles following hot on their heels as 1st November saw the switch-on of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.co.uk starts Christmas campaign

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Library reinstates Amazon link

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Boos: Now is the time for start-ups

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 09:28 The director of the Frankfurt Book Fair has said start-ups will capitalise on the trade, as the organisers revealed exhibitor numbers were down 2.1% on 2010. In total, 7,384 exhibitors from 106 countries attended last week's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Select Fall 2011: E-Book Master Class: PW Talks with Joshua Tallent

If self-publishing is a major part of the future of the publishing business, then its most uncharted region, and the frontier of greatest possibility, is digital self-publishing, where authors can make their own names and sell infinite numbers of books with the help of a handful of increasingly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Library attacked for Amazon link

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 14/10/2011 - 09:27 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Museum to publish first manga title

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 15:26 The British Museum Press is teaming up with Japanese star Hoshino Yukinobu to publish its first manga book, featuring the artist’s most famous character, Professor Munakata. Marketing and publicity executive Sarah Morgan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster to publish Country Life titles

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 22/09/2011 - 08:48 Simon & Schuster has signed a deal with Country Life magazine to publish a new series of tie-in books, beginning this autumn with Curious Observations: A Country Miscellany. The book will comprise writings, articles and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian Publishing 2011: The British Columbia Alternative

It is, in many ways, a world away from Canada’s book publishing center in Toronto. But even three time zones, several mountain ranges, and vast forests away, the West Coast is home to Canada’s second-largest concentration of English-language publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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