Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite

Imagine a world where privilege is passed down like a family heirloom, where elite schools and Oxbridge cloisters are the secret factories churning out Britain’s most powerful individuals, and where even the most privileged love to pretend they’re just one of us. Welcome to Born to Rule, a delightfully audacious exploration of the British elite, which blends academic rigor with just the right touch of wit to keep you flipping the pages (and occasionally smirking).

Not a Light Read, But a Worthy One

First things first—this isn’t Malcolm Gladwell. Nor is it Niall Ferguson. You won’t be swept away by a whirlwind of pop anecdotes and cocktail-party-ready insights. Instead, Reeves and Friedman offer something richer: an ambling stroll through 125 years of British social history. Their weapon of choice? The Who’s Who, Britain’s grand registry of the self-proclaimed great and good.

Yes, they actually traced back the lives of people mentioned in the Who’s Who over more than a century to uncover how they climbed the ladders of power. Along the way, they reveal what everyone secretly knew but no one dared say quite this plainly: British elites are more obsessed with Oxbridge, Clarendon schools, and old money than a Daily Mail reader is with Meghan Markle. But don’t worry—it’s not all dry statistics. The book’s charm lies in its ability to marry the heavy (class inequalities!) with the hilarious (beer-drinking MPs!).

A Study in Institutionalized Privilege

At the heart of Born to Rule lies a forensic analysis of elite reproduction. This is no happy accident; Britain’s ruling class has been meticulously engineered for centuries. The authors painstakingly show how private schools like Eton, Harrow, and St. Paul’s operate as gilded conveyer belts, churning out students primed for Oxbridge, which in turn spits them out into Westminster, the City, and cultural institutions like the BBC.

The numbers are grim: half of students at elite Russell Group universities come from private schools, though these institutions educate just 10% of the population. And yet, while the state sector might occasionally produce a genius or two, Born to Rule makes it clear that Oxbridge remains less a meritocratic paradise than a carefully curated finishing school for Britain’s most privileged.

Oxbridge: The Glorious Gatekeeper

The chapter on Oxbridge could double as a tragic comedy. The admissions system, cloaked in the language of fairness, is exposed for what it really is: a magnet for the already-privileged. A-level grades and interviews favor the confident (read: privately educated) over the capable (read: everyone else). The book even floats the audacious idea of replacing the traditional admissions process with a lottery system. Yes, really. Imagine an Etonian being told, “Sorry, Sebastian, but your slot went to someone from, oh, I don’t know, Sunderland!”

The Cultural Currency of Ordinariness

Perhaps the most deliciously ironic part of Born to Rule is its exploration of how elites desperately try to seem ordinary. From MPs claiming “beer-drinking” as a hobby to CEOs dropping their H’s, today’s privileged few excel at downplaying their privilege. They parade as “self-made” or “hard-working,” often masking the centuries of wealth and connections that greased their ascent. The authors call this phenomenon the “elite masquerading as common people,” and let’s be honest, it’s about as convincing as Boris Johnson jogging for the cameras.

The BBC and the Elitist Cultural Machine

Among the book’s juiciest vignettes is a dive into the British Broadcasting Corporation, which, despite its lofty mission to promote “all that is best in every department of human knowledge,” has long been a bastion of elite cultural power. From ballet to abstract art, the BBC has been curating Britain’s cultural menu since Virginia Woolf was popping by for tea with D.H. Lawrence. In other words, it’s less about bringing Shakespeare to the masses and more about making sure you know who’s in charge of Shakespeare.

Why You Should Read This Book

If you’ve ever wondered how Britain’s elites keep winning in a world that claims to reward merit, this book is your answer. And while the authors occasionally veer into the academic, their dry humor and razor-sharp analysis make it eminently readable. Plus, it’s sprinkled with anecdotes that are almost too absurd to believe:

• MPs listing “drinking beer” as their hobby in Who’s Who.

• A headmaster of Eton publicly apologizing for the school’s role in creating politicians like Boris Johnson (yes, really).

• A revelation that Bloomsbury icons like Virginia Woolf didn’t just write novels—they also shaped cultural tastes to align with elite values.

A Quick Thought Experiment

As I read Born to Rule, one question haunted me: is there a similar analysis of elites in France, Germany, or the United States? Surely America’s Ivy Leagues, France’s grandes écoles, or Germany’s aristocratic networks have their own tales of privilege perpetuated through time. Perhaps Reeves and Friedman’s greatest triumph is making us look beyond Britain, igniting curiosity about how elites worldwide shape our institutions—and our lives.

Parting Words

I leave you with some tantalizing quotes from the book, entirely out of context, just to pique your curiosity:

“They embraced a set of emerging cultural forms—abstract art, theatre, and ballet—promulgated by, among others, prominent Bloomsberries such as Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and Roger Fry.”

“... recounted his amusement when learning that several of his parliamentary colleagues, who he knew considered themselves ‘very cultured,’ had listed ‘drinking beer’ in their Who’s Who profile.”

“Elite masquerading as common people.”

If the thought of British elites earnestly listing beer as a sign of their cultural sophistication doesn’t make you want to dive into this book, then I don’t know what will. Read it. Love it. And perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll never look at Oxbridge the same way again.

Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite

By Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman

Published: by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

2024