the stuff of history
Inspiring content and resources about history and heritage designed to entertain, inform, and educate – with an emphasis on empathy, innovation and nuance
Educational Graphic Novels & Games
BILLY WATERS: SONGS FROM THE SHADOWS
This educational graphic novel, released 9 October 2024, tells the extraordinary tale of a little-known character called Billy Waters. Co-authored with artist Selena Scott, and with guidance from Waters’s historical biographer, Dr Mary L. Shannon (Billy Waters is Dancing), the 20-page graphic novel supports history teaching around marginalised peoples, migration, disability, and cultures of poverty and performance in the Age of Revolution.
It enables students to debate issues such as how historians rescue missing voices from the archives, and what interpretive decisions change how we see people in the past – including “Choose Your Own” pathways and hybrid text adapted from original primary sources.
PETERLOO: IMAGINE A WORLD
This vivid and historically accurate account of the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ was created and released to schools in 2019 – marking the 200th anniversary of the event – as a collaboration with artist ‘Polyp’ (Paul Fitzgerald) and based on a longer-form graphic novel and the research of Prof. Robert Poole. The 20-page resource narrates the events that unfolded in Manchester in August 2019 when 60,000 people gathered to demand reform and faced violence from magistrates and soldiers.
The ground-breaking resource has helped teachers and students to think about questions of historical perspective and gender, combining authentic sources and characters with emotive renderings around issues of citizenship and representation that are still topical.
GREAT FIGURES OF THE AGE OF REVOLUTION
This special edition of Top Trumps cards was specially designed and created by Ben Marsh through the Age of Revolution project (2018-2025) supported by Waterloo200 Ltd. and distributed free to thousands of schools. Based on cutting edge research and wonderful portraiture by ‘Polyp’ the game invites students to compare and contrast the careers and legacies of a rich and diverse cast of characters – far beyond the typical ‘heroes’ or ‘founding fathers’ of the Age of Revolution.
The deck features 30 figures from the period of global upheaval, selected in conjunction with historians and teachers and given notional ratings according to their impact and radicalism – which provide brilliant debating fodder in the classroom and help to bring new faces and voices into conversations.
SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS
“Jump Billy” – by Angeline Morrison and the Sorrow Songs Band
Songs about Historical Figures.
This song by folk musician Angeline Morrison narrates the life story of Billy Waters, the famous nineteenth-century performer on the streets of London. It was commissioned as part of the educational Age of Revolution project – produced and mixed by Ben Marsh. The associated YouTube pages include interviews and additional resources, with short reflections by key creatives and scholars including artist Selena Scott, musician Angeline Morrison, and historian Dr Mary L. Shannon.
Find out more about Billy Waters’s life and significance in this mini-lecture by Dr Ben Marsh.
“Hitler Was(n’t) Socialist” – adaptation of Prokofiev’s “Dance of the Knights” by The Marsh Family
Songs about Historical Controversies.
This video by The Marsh Family uses Prokofiev’s famous piece to consider a contention widely claimed today – including by the likes of Elon Musk on social media – that Hitler was a socialist, because of how the Nazi Party framed itself. It presents both cases, using imagery and quotes from historians to consider the nuances and realities.
The Stuff of History
COMMISSIONING NEW RESOURCES
If you’re interested in commissioning or collaborating on new resources, or in workshops and talks about existing projects and outputs, please drop us a line below: