Billy Bunter is not numbered amongst the brightest pupils at his school - except for one rare talent - his remakable gift of ventriloquism! And the sole talent lands him in the worst trouble of his fat life - expulsion from his alma mater.

A surprising number of classic English authors wrote school stories, from Mary Shelley and Maria Edgeworth through Evelyn Waugh and Stephen Spender. Coverage spans two centuries of fiction set in the endowed private schools called Public Schools in England. Famous works such as Tom Brown's Schooldays by Hughes and Stalky & Co. by Kipling are described, along with books of accomplished but lesser-known writers such as Charles Turley, Eden Phillpotts, Talbot Baines Reed, and Desmond Coke. In addition to their pure entertainment value, these novels preserve a wealth of cultural information: class attitudes, sexual development, sports history, consciousness of Empire, role of the Established Church, study of the Classics. Biographical sketches are provided for most of the authors.

In his introduction to this important reference work, Robert Fitzpatrick traces the origins of the boys' school story back to the 18th-century and its development and reception over the last 200 years. The contribution of women writers to the boys' school story is examined and popular topics explored. With over 500 entries, this encyclopaedia is the most comprehensive survey to date of this popular and highly collectable genre.