Gervase Phinn - your name sounds like a brand of French yoghurt he is told - is appointed as school inspector in North Yorkshire, visiting schools in and around the picturesque Dales county. At the centre of this brilliantly woven tapestry of characters - which include fellow inspectors, the wildly eccentric caretaker, the sporting chairman of governors, the visiting Ministry bigwigs - are the devoted teachers and their completely unpredictable charges. In his invigorating and witty style,Gervase Phinn unfolds the dramas that occur during his first year as a school inspector, with many adventures beckoning around the corner...