An unbiased view by David Buckingham. The book was a best-seller at the time, and has been very widely cited ever since.
https://davidbuckingham.net/2021/04/14/deschooling-society-revisiting-ivan-illich-after-lockdown/
This book is about a very different kind of school. A quote from the introduction, "Some learn best from teachers or other students, others learn best by themselves." Yes. "As far as learning and teaching were concerned, we wanted people to be able to learn only what they were eager to learn -- what they set out to learn on their own initiative l, what they insisted on learning, and what they were ready to work hard at."
A quick look at the table of contents reveals this is no ordinary book about theories or pedagogy. This is a book about a school which began during the political turmoil of the late 1960s and has maintained its purpose since. Age mixing, play, special expenditures, school corporations, persistence, learning, evaluation, "Good Kids" and "Troublemakers" (one of my favorite chapters), and The Proof of the Pudding.
A final favorite quote from the afterword, "Everything about the school conveys our belief that any human interest is a worthwhile pursuit if only it has been chosen freely and followed from true inner desire. Our distinctions are between superficial interests and deep ones, not between "worthy" ones and "unworthy" ones...and this attitude follows our students through life, keeping them comfortable with others, regardless of what path they have chosen."
An interesting and perspective altering view on the purpose and path of education, childhood, and lifelong pursuits.