ABSTRACT
The publication of What is and What Might Be in 19.11 marked a watershed moment in Holmes' life and career. It was the first of his major extended pieces of educational writing, the first publication of his retirement and ultimately it was destined to be the one work upon which, for many educational historians and thinkers, his reputation has rested. Nonetheless, whilst the fame and notoriety of What is was undoubtedly well deserved such an impact has, perversely, done Holmes' historical reputation few favours. Indeed such was the long shadow it cast upon educational thinking down the years that it has tended to overshadow many of the other key books produced by its author. In thus seeking to appraise and understand Holmes' educational philosophy it is prescient to remember that one cannot and should not consider his texts in isolation from one another.
