Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to show, a figure of considerable importance as both a popular, innovative and best-selling writer as well as a key player within many educational developments that served to define the modern scholastic landscape, there is very little existing scholarship on Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes. It discusses some academic pieces, such as a 1983 bibliographic article in the History of Education journal by Peter Gordon - the author of Holmes' expectedly short Dictionary of National Biography entry - and a brief 58 page pamphlet by Chris Shute entitled Edmond Holmes and the Tragedy of Education published by the Educational Heretics Press. The first of these offers a brief biography of the key events in Holmes' life and discusses the contents of his extensive corpus of work many of which were helpfully collated and gathered by the author.