To Sir, With Love

The author's experiences as a teacher in the slums of London.

When a woman refuses to sit next to him on the bus, Rick Braithwaite is saddened and angered by her prejudice. In post-war, cosmopolitan London, he had hoped for a more enlightened attitude. When he begins his first teaching job in a tough East End school, the reactions are the same. Slowly and painfully, some of the barriers are broken down. He shames his pupils, wrestles with them, enlightens them, and eventually comes to love them. To Sir, With Love is the story of a dedicated teacher who turns hate into love, teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into consideration for others — the story of a man's own integrity winning through against all the odds.