The book is probably better known under the title ‘Mr Perrin and Mr Traill’, later made into a well-known film in 1948. Perrin and Traill are masters at a grim old-fashioned second-rate boarding public school in Cornwall – Perrin has been there many years and the youthful Traill has just arrived. The book concerns the growing antagonism between the two which turns into active dislike following an unfortunate incident and which eventually has devastating consequences.