To my knowledge this is the first book to be published which attempts to tell the story of the development of mathematics education in England. That this should be so is rather surprising; for one can turn to histories of the teaching of science and to a history of mathematics teaching in Scotland. Any attempt to fill such a gap is, therefore, fraught with difficulties, for the ‘only book’ is likely to be invested with an authority it may not deserve. Extra problems may also arise as a result of my having chosen to present the material through the medium of biographies. Emerson's claim that ‘there is properly no history; only biography’ could be used to justify this decision. The truth is, however, more mundane; for I abandoned a ‘chronological’ account thinking it would have little appeal for the general reader as opposed to the serious student. I believe also that a biographical account, even though it requires frequent scene-settings and ‘flashbacks’, better demonstrates the great part which individuals have always played in the advancement of mathematics education in England. The book, however, is not to be compared with Macfarlane's Ten British Mathematicians of the Nineteenth Century, for that author set out to identify the ten ‘greatest’ mathematicians of that age. My basis for selection has been different, for I have chosen subjects from various periods and traditions whose own mathematical education and whose contributions to mathematics teaching provided a framework around which I could construct a representative story.