{"product_id":"from-bedales-to-the-boche-the-ironies-of-an-edwardian-childhood","title":"From Bedales to the Boche: The ironies of an Edwardian childhood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003eRobert Best and his younger brother Frank were born into privileged middle-class Birmingham in the 1890s. Their father owned one of the UK's most successful lighting factories. Sent to Bedales, they enjoyed the freedom to explore their interests and absorbed the moral thinking of the school's founder, J.H. Badley. After their father insisted they study design in Duesseldorf, the brothers enlisted in the Army Service Corps and were sent to the battlefields of northern France and Dublin. Their passion was for the newly formed Royal Flying Corps, which they joined in late 1916. After six months of training, they were sent to France, where Frank lasted five weeks before his plane was shot down, his body never found. Best's book is rich in pathos, showing how he and his parents responded to Frank's loss and how he tried to rediscover and make sense of Germany after the war. \u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e                                                            \u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e                              \u003cstrong\u003eLength\u003c\/strong\u003e: 427 pages\u003cbr\u003e                              \u003cstrong\u003ePublication date\u003c\/strong\u003e: 10 December 2020\u003cbr\u003e                              \u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: EnvelopeBooks\u003cbr\u003e                          \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the 1890s, Robert Best and his younger brother Frank were born into a privileged middle-class family in Birmingham, England. Their father owned one of the UK's most successful lighting factories, supplying fashionable fittings to offices, hotels, restaurants, and opera houses worldwide. The boys were sent to the most enlightened new school of their day, Bedales, where they enjoyed the freedom to explore their own interests while also absorbing the inspirational moral thinking of the school's founder and headmaster, J.H. Badley. From Bedales to the Boche charts their history at the school during its early years and showcases what Badley's idea of a progressive education consisted of. It also demonstrates how the boys honed their ambitions to become music-hall entertainers, writing and performing their own material at home and at school, and eventually showing it to London impresarios. However, their plans for the stage were interrupted by their father's insistence that they study design at another progressive institution, the art school in Duesseldorf headed until 1907 by Peter Behrens. Best's account of his year there, and of Frank's the following year, provides an amusing interlude ahead of the First World War. When war broke out, the brothers enlisted at once into the Army Service Corps (ASC), which took them to the battlefields of northern France and to Dublin in 1916 to help quell the Easter Rising. Their passion, however, going back to their experiments with flight while at Bedales, was for the newly formed Royal Flying Corps, which they entered in late 1916, joining the Corps' new school and embarking on a training program that Best describes in fascinating detail. After six months of training, the brothers were sent to France, where the life expectancy of a pilot was about four months. Frank was the last to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e                            \u003cstrong\u003eWeight\u003c\/strong\u003e: 480g                            \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimension\u003c\/strong\u003e: 127 x 200 x 45 (mm)                            \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: 9781838172022                                                      \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Robert Dudley Best","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":44096481820922,"sku":"9781838172022","price":11.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/products\/1702a434ca5c6901078e248e0b8042b5.jpg?v=1622170066","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/from-bedales-to-the-boche-the-ironies-of-an-edwardian-childhood","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}