The academic profession in Britain still displays exceptional solidarity and enjoys remarkable autonomy. Yet, or perhaps because of this happy state, its values and privileges appear to be under more sustained attack than anywhere else in Europe. This apparent paradox can only be explained by considering first the development of the academic profession in twentieth century Britain and then its alleged rigidity in the face of rapidly changing social, economic and intellectual demands and equally rapidly growing political pressures. Perhaps the shape of the academic profession that emerged in Britain at a time when higher education's academic mission seemed plain, its values homogeneous and self-confident, and its public reputation uncontested is less appropriate now that the expansion of higher education has produced an alarming heterogeneity of both purposes and values and public respect appears much more conditional. Or, to be more positive, the very success of higher education in broadening its academic, social, and even cultural roles may have begun to undermine the former rather conservative solidarity of the academic profession. By international standards the academic profession in Britain displays strong and perhaps surprising solidarity. Only in a few other countries where higher education has been developed under British influence does the profession share this characteristic to the same degree. The symptoms of this academic solidarity are a considerable equality of privileges and influence between senior and junior staff, the lack of any significant division of labour between teachers and researchers, the absence of any serious stratification of institutions, and a remarkable homogeneity of intellectual and broader cultural values within the profession. Most of these features are absent in other European systems of higher education where tension between senior and junior staff is common, research and teaching are often separately organized, the roles of institutions are sharply and sometimes formally differentiated, and intellectual and cultural values are sometimes bitterly contested within the profession. All four features deserve to be emphasised. For what appears as normal in Britain