A biography of John Maurice Webb (1847-1916), a scholar and educator who with his brother William Robert "Old Sawney" Webb established the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, as one of the most prominent secondary schools in the United States.

John Maurice Webb (1847-1916) was known as "the gentle scholar." A master teacher, he served as co-principal of the famed Webb School in Culleoka and Bell Buckle, Tennessee, with his brother William "Sawney" Webb from 1873 to 1916. He was revered and adored by his students, among whom were future state and national leaders and eight Rhodes Scholars. Terry Barkley brings John M. Webb out of his older brother's shadow in The Gentle Scholar and sheds light on his unique contributions not only to Webb School and Bell Buckle, but to Vanderbilt University and the improvement of educational standards throughout Tennessee and the South from the post-Reconstruction period to the early 20th century.