George Eliot’s writing reflects the concerns about education that were a primary issue of debate in Victorian England. Through her essays, fiction, and letters, Eliot commented on problems that had existed at the end of the previous century and which continued to plague her contemporaries. The Power of Knowledge: George Eliot and Education provides historical context for the controversies and clarifies Eliot’s position on topics ranging from the burdens of illiteracy to the desirability of a classical education to developments in higher education for women.