W. H. Weston was an adapter of classical biography whose Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls made ancient Greek and Roman history accessible to younger readers. Drawing on Plutarch's portraits of influential statesmen and commanders, Weston selected stories that combine memorable events with questions of character. His version invites children to consider how courage, ambition, loyalty, and judgment shape public life.

The collection presents six Greek and six Roman figures, including Themistocles, Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Brutus. In his preface, Weston explains his effort to preserve the character of the original while removing digressions and unnecessary names. He adds background where needed to help readers understand circumstances that an ancient audience might already have known.

Reliable biographical information about Weston himself is limited, but his editorial purpose is clearly expressed in the book. He valued Plutarch's ability to illustrate virtues such as justice, fortitude, and temperance through individual lives. The resulting adaptation belongs to a longstanding educational tradition of introducing classical literature through stories, offering young readers an approachable path into works that have influenced historical writing for centuries.