He returned recently to teaching in secondary schools and this book not only distils his wide experiences of teaching but also records his sudden immersion in the brave new world of the National Curriculum. His fortuitous return to the world of the secondary English teacher at such a momentous era of change means that he can look at the new curriculum and its context with the eyes of an experienced insider and an onlooker at one and the same time. This gives him a perspective that is uniquely framed to be of help to someone struggling as a new teacher to come to terms with the National Curriculum.