Cramming schools, which are not mentioned in polite academic society, often include brilliant teachers and teaching.* British education also has its cramming crypts. The most famed, and hoarier than many U.S. colleges, is "Jimmy's" of London (Carlisle & Gregson, Ltd.), which last week was cramming young men for the British medical examinations. As usual, Jimmy's confidently expected to get 90% of them through.
For 70 of its 80 years, Jimmy's has occupied great, dreary, genteel Kensington House at 5 Lexham Gardens. Its ponderous Victorian interiordark red wallpaper and funereal furnitureis still lit and heated by gas. Among the 20,000 rack-brained heads that...