Tom Brown's Schooldays

Tom Brown's School Days (sometimes written Tom Brown's Schooldays also published under the titles Tom Brown at Rugby School Days at Rugby and Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby) is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The story is set in the 1830s at Rugby School an English public school. Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842. The novel was originally published as being by an Old Boy of Rugby and much of it is based on the author's experiences. Tom Brown is largely based on the author's brother George Hughes. George Arthur another of the book's main characters is generally believed to be based on Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (Dean Stanley). The fictional Tom's life also resembles the author's in that the culminating event of his school career was a cricket match. The novel also features Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) who was the actual headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841. Tom Brown's School Days has been the source for several film and television adaptations. It also influenced the genre of British school novels which began in the nineteenth century and led to fictional depictions of schools such as Mr Chips's Brookfield and St Trinian's. A sequel Tom Brown at Oxford was published in 1861.