Tom Brown's School Days for the favourite in a horse race, Tom is deliberately burned in front of a fire. Tom and East defeat Flashman with the help of Diggs, a kind, comical, older boy. In their triumph they become unruly. In the second half of the book, Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), the historical headmaster of the school at the time, gives Tom the care of George Arthur, a frail, pious, academically brilliant, gauche, and sensitive new boy. A fight that Tom gets into to protect Arthur, and Arthur's nearly dying of fever, are described in loving detail. Tom and Arthur help each other
Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005 film) The start of the film includes real historical events which are not in the book: Dr. Arnold closing down the school hunt; Dr. Arnold complaining that before his time, there were no masters in the school overnight to keep the boys in order. "Tom Brown's Schoolday's" was met positively by the critics. It was called "a flash of evil genius" by "The Daily Express", "one of the best TV adaptations of an English classic I have seen" by "The Daily Mail"; "The Radio Times" said that "viewers of every political colour will find much to delight them in Tom Brown's