From Bowdler’s Shakespeare to Puffin’s edited Roald Dahl, publishing has often chosen to smooth away awkwardness rather than explain it. But sanitised texts, missing credits and silent rewrites do more than tidy the past — they erase evidence, authorship and the people who made books possible.

Boarding school stories endure not because they were ever realistic, but because they offered a fantasy of order—where chaos was dormitory-sized, friendships epic, and growing up happened between cold showers and jam tarts.

Look into the world of school stories, from Billy Bunter's misadventures to the classic tropes that still govern the genre. Whether it's overcoming a monster or going on a quest, these narratives hold more than just nostalgia—they hold the keys to understanding class, morality, and personal growth in fiction.

Why are publishers rewriting Roald Dahl instead of commissioning new authors? In a world where even the Roman army wasn’t just white and italian, isn’t it time to stop recycling the past and start publishing the future?