The Peterloo Graphic Novel – available free to schools now
August 12, 2019 - Richard Moss in News, Education News
A special FREE schools’ edition of the Peterloo graphic novel.
The Schools’ edition of The Peterloo Graphic novel.
A vivid, original and historically accurate ‘comic book’ visual account of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, published as part of the 200th anniversary commemorations, is now available to schools.
This new schools’ edition titled Peterloo: Imagine a World is available as a free PDF download for use in the classroom. Teachers can also order free hard copies by completing this simple form.
If you would like a plain-text transcription of Peterloo: Imagine a World, please email us, and we will be happy to provide you with one.
Try these free classroom activities:
- Interpreting Peterloo (produced by Loreto Grammar School the UCL Institute of Education for teachers of students aged 12 – 14)
- Creating a historical graphic story (for students aged 8 – 14)
In a partnership with the Age of Revolution, The University of Kent and the authors and publishers of the full graphic novel Peterloo: Witnesses to a Massacre (Polyp, Schlunke, and Poole) – we can offer a special twenty-page schools’ version of the innovative graphic novel specially adapted for teachers wishing to explore the events of 16 August 1819 in the classroom.
The explosive tale of Peterloo, when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 people who had gathered in Manchester in August 1819 to demand the reform of parliamentary representation, is told through the voices of those who were there. The schools’ edition looks through the eyes and experiences of children, and is full of reference points to the wider campaigns for rights and liberties in the Age of Revolution.
Its aim is to help students to understand the event, and to identify links and symbols that bridge periods and topics. It will provoke insights into the nature of political protest in British history, its representation in art, and its relevance to the world today.
The original project used only direct testimony of the time including letters, memoirs, journalist accounts, spy reports and courtroom evidence to weave together the illustrations created by professional cartoonist, illustrator and graphic novelist ‘Polyp’. The result is a unique book published by the New Internationalist Press that vividly brings alive the story of Peterloo published in the year marking the 200th anniversary to take the reader back to 19th century Manchester and the bloody fight for reform.
