(Robert) Geoffrey Trease FRSL (11 August 1909 – 27 January 1998) was a prolific British writer who published 113 books, mainly for children, between 1934 and 1997, starting with Bows Against the Barons and ending with Cloak for a Spy in 1997. His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences on his work. He is best known for the children's novel Cue for Treason (1940). Trease's children's historical novels reflect his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. His ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949) pioneered the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes. Life and work Trease was born in Nottingham in 1909, third and youngest son of George Trease (1873–1932), a wine merchant, and his wife Florence Dale (1874–1955), a doctor's daughter. He won a scholarship to Nottingham High School, where he wrote stories, poems, and a three-act play; awarded a Classics scholarship to Oxford University, he found his tutors dull and after a year, left university without a degree and moved to London. Intent on becoming a writer, he also worked with slum children and joined a left-wing group called the "Promethean Society" whose members included Hugh Gordon Porteus and Desmond Hawkins. Trease described his own childhood reading as "a diet of classist and racist historical adventure" but in 1933, he came across a translation of a Russian book titled Moscow has a Plan, in which a Soviet author dramatised the First five-year plan for young readers. Inspired by this, in 1934 Trease wrote Bows Against the Barons, a left-wing update of Robin Hood that showcased a radical approach to historical literature for young people. This included the use of modern English, rather than linguistic mannerisms, strong male and female characters, often from less privileged levels of society and meticulous attention to detail. An enduring belief in equality and fairness is a theme in many of his books, as are links between the historical settings of his novels and contemporary issues. Bows Against