Thomas Hughes` novel about the mischievous but kind-hearted schoolboy Tom Brown inspired other school novels, including Frank Richards` Billy Bunter stories and J. K. Rowling`s Harry Potter series. The novel begins at Tom`s childhood home in the Vale of the White Horse, where he spends his days out in the fields with his pony. This early idyllic setting it set up as a contrast to the stresses that Tom undergoes later at Rugby boarding school when he encounters the bully Flashman. Tom is helped through his struggles by his friends Harry `Scud` East and the frail but brilliant George Arthur, whom Tom protects, and who ultimately helps Tom develop into a young gentleman ready for Oxford University.