Public schools were in the business of producing leaders
- in national government in the Empire & in the armed forces. Their impact on society was immense & they provided the vehicle by which the sons of the middle classes could be assimilated into the gentry. Historian Trevor May examines the development of the Victorian & Edwardian public school covering their defining characteristics their slowly evolving curriculum & the often-notable headmasters. The spartan & often brutal life of the schoolboy is examined & account is taken of the role of fagging & the prefect system.