Public schools were in the business of producing leaders in national government, in the Empire, and in the armed forces. Their impact on society was immense, and 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 and Edwardian public school, covering their defining characteristics, their slowly evolving curriculum, and the often-notable headmasters. The spartan, and often brutal, life of the schoolboy is examined, and account is taken of the role of fagging and the prefect system.