This is a story about a school-teacher, Mr Chipping, who his students fondly call Mr Chips. He's the beloved Latin teacher at a quiet boys' school in England called Brookfield. When the book opens, we meet him as an old man, living in rooms across the road from his beloved school, still organising his days by the school bell, inviting the new boys, and some of the older ones over to tea, and keeping up with the goings on at the school.
He begins to reminisce, and we get the story of his life, his progression from an uncertain young man to the confident but entirely conventional teacher, to one of those teachers who become mentors and symbols and stay with their students long after they've left the school. In time, he becomes an institution, inspiring his students to face up to any situation with courage and an unfailing sense of humour.
This is the story of one man’s life, but the writer uses that as the lens through which to tell the story of changing world. This book begins in the late 19th century and goes on until the end of the first world war. All the events are set in and around the school, but we get glimpses of the world beyond, glimpses of a changing world order, of young men going off to war, of acts of courage and moments of pain…all of this lands even more powerfully because it is in the background of the narrative rather than at the heart of it.
This is a charming book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.