Philosophers and Kings examines how the theme of ''education for leadership'' has developed, changed and declined in English secondary education during the twentieth century. Gary McCulloch examines the contributions of significant educators such as Cyril Norwood, Victor Gollancz and Eric James, and shows how an inherently ''elitist'' notion could in fact be adapted to form an important part of radical and even socialist educational thought, and share in the discrediting such notions have suffered during the 1980s. In so doing Philosophers and Kings makes an important contribution not only to the educational history of contemporary England, but to our understanding of the manifold cultural changes that have affected English society in the recent past.