"The behaviour in the House has reached an all-time low ... I will make sure that respect and discipline is installed in every one of you. Our last Head of House allowed slovenly behaviour to manifest itself, and this is not acceptable. We shall root it out."

One of the finest public schools in England in the 1970s is a privileged but intensely lonely place for young Samuel. Following in the footsteps of his father, he quickly learns that the certainties of this closed world are crumbling away, with teachers and the traditional fag system imposing the harshest of life lessons.