Each year thirty-two seniors at American universities are awarded Rhodes
Scholarships, which entitle them to spend two or three years studying at
the University of Oxford. The program, founded by the British
colonialist and entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes and established in 1903, has
become the world's most famous academic scholarship and has brought
thousands of young Americans to study in England. Many of these later
became national leaders in government, law, education, literature, and
other fields. Among them were the politicians J. William Fulbright, Bill
Bradley, and Bill Clinton; the public policy analysts Robert Reich and
George Stephanopoulos; the writer Robert Penn Warren; the entertainer
Kris Kristofferson; and the Supreme Court Justices Byron White and David
Souter.
Based on extensive research in published and unpublished documents and
on hundreds of interviews, this book traces the history of the program
and the stories of many individuals. In addition it addresses a host of
questions such as: how important was the Oxford experience for the
individual scholars? To what extent has the program created an old-boy
(-girl since 1976) network that propels its members to success? How many
Rhodes Scholars have cracked under the strain and failed to live up to
expectations? How have the Americans coped with life in Oxford and what
have they thought of Britain in general? Beyond the history of the
program and the individuals involved, this book also offers a valuable
examination of the American-British cultural encounter.
