Black Tom: Arnold of Rugby: The Myth and the Man

This biography of Thomas Arnold combines a study of his life with an examination of Arnold's influence as an educator, a theologian and a churchman. He stands as a monument to the development of the 19th century public school system whose influence spread far beyond Britain's upper-class. Arnold was the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School and Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857) fixed him in the public imagination. Copley assesses both the uncritical Victorian versions of Arnold`s life - including Hughes and Dean Stanley's original Life - and the sneering assessment of his influence, perpetuated by Strachey in his book Eminent Victorians, to provide a rounded portrait of Arnold. In conclusion Copley explores the possible legacy that this great, but neglected figure, has left to our age.