I suggested some time ago on ET that English boarding school life might be an interesting prism through which to view power relations in the Westminster elite. Little did I know that a keener mind than my own, that of Reuter's former Westminster correspondent, John Morrison, had already set to work to explore that very prism.

The result is a captivating work of not-so-fictitious fiction:

Young Anthony is at school at St Stephen's College, which (behind him in the illustration) bears a no doubt accidental resemblance to a well-known place by the Thames (hint: pointed tower with clock called B.. B..).

On his very first day he makes the acquaintance of his study companion, a Scottish lad named Brown:

His new study companion had plunged his nose into a book, and was writing furiously. He seemed much older than his years.

'The mater's done us proud,' Blair said as he pushed a slice of cake across the desk. The dark-haired boy put down his pen and took the cake with his inky fingers.

'It's not bad.'

Blair detected a Scottish accent. 'I'm sort of Scottish too,' he said. 'How ripping that we should be sharing a study. Do help yourself.'

'You don't sound Scottish,' Brown replied. 'You could be a Sassenach impostor.' For the first time, Blair could detect the hint of a wintry smile. Perhaps he and the dour Scottish boy would be chums after all.

I'll leave it to you to guess what wonderful chums Blair and Brown become. Or how they get on with school pals Mandelson, Murdoch, and Campbell, with religious-maniac headmaster Dr Bush, with ice-cream and jam-puff salesman Berlusconi, or with the town grocer's daughter who, working in the Thatcher family shop,

sat in a mahogany booth, operating a giant American cash register of polished brass.

Suffice it to say that the plot thickens as rifles go "missing" and captain of school Blair leads (sort of) the assault on Fat Sam's lair, the Saracen's Head in Mesopotamia, the dicey part of the local town...

It's wonderfully illustrated with Edwardian-style drawings by David Alan Hopkins, it's howlingly funny -- with an underlying note of seriousness. And, by the time you've read Anthony Blair, Captain of School, you'll have gained a little more insight, imho, into who the little chappie is. As one summary says:

It is the only book you will ever need to read to understand Tony Blair.

It's also a jolly good idea for Christmas. This may seem like a shameless commercial plug, but the book is self-published and doesn't have a big marketing operation behind it...

You can find out more here. I bought it from the Book Place (recommended for UK/Europe, though I'm not sure about the US).

WMD, or Weapon of Minor (but sufficient) Destruction.