Charles Astor Bristed (1820–1874) was an American scholar and author and the first American writer to defend American English spelling. Having graduated from Trinity College in 1845 he published this two-volume account of his experiences at the university in 1852 to provide an accurate, first-hand account of study in an English university for Americans, with the intent of starting a debate over including aspects of English higher education in the American system. Written for those with no experience of the university, volume 1 provides valuable insights into the life of a Cambridge student in the middle of the nineteenth century. The second volume contains an analysis of study at Cambridge and explores the shortcomings and advantages of the American system. Examination papers for mathematics and classics from the 1840s are included in an appendix.