Alan Bennett - The History Boys

On the day following press night at the National Theatre, Alan Bennett spoke at the London Review Bookshop about his latest play, The History Boys, in which an unruly bunch of bright sixth-form boys have to deal with staff-room rivalry between, among others, a maverick English teacher, a headmaster obsessed by results and a history teacher who thinks he's a fool. The play asks questions about history and how it should be taught, and about education and its purpose.