A School for Scandal

No knowledge should be withheld from children. Respect the individual peculiarities of the child. Morality to arise from the child's actual experience, never from the authority of adults.

These were the tenets of Beacon Hill, a radical school founded by Bertrand Russell and his activist wife Dora in 1927. With no compulsory lessons and little discipline, it was either praised as a haven of liberalism or vilified as a communist fantasy. By the time the school closed in 1943, the Russells' unconventional marriage had collapsed, amid rumours of oddball teachers, unwashed children and attempted pet sacrifice.

In this tale of open marriages and ramshackle ideals, John O'Connell reveals the tumultuous story of Beacon Hill, resurrecting a forgotten chapter of British history.