John Hite attended the Perse Boys School in Cambridge. His history exercise book contains his second year work, covering English history from 1066-1485. The work consists of neatly-written notes and is illustrated with colourful maps, diagrams and accurate drawings, such as the excerpt from the Bayeux Tapestry. The tasks include some designed to encourage historical thinking, such as the page setting out the evidence for William Rufus's murder as against an accidental death. The curriculum follows the traditional pattern, with the Norman and Plantagenet kings, Magna Carta, early parliaments and sections on the life of the castle and the monastery as well as the Crusades and the 'War against Scotland'. The final third of the book consists of a detailed history of Cambridge, noting the city's involvement in national events and reminders of its past in the local geography and architecture, such as the university colleges, churches and monuments.