Teaching ‘the lesson of satire': using The Wipers Times to build an enquiry on the First World War

‘Blackadder for real' is how the British journalist and broadcaster, Ian Hislop, characterised The Wipers Time, the newspaper published on the front line by members of the 12th Battalion Sherwood, and recently brought to a new audience in Hislop's BBC dramatisation. Mary Brown and Carolyn Massey were immediately struck by the potential of both resources, not merely to engage students and convince them of the reality and complexity of individual soldiers' experiences of the war, but also to develop their understanding of the processes by which historical accounts - interpretations of the past - are constructed. This report of their experience developing short schemes of work for two very different kinds of class demonstrates the value of careful and responsive planning for progression. Rather than simply rejecting satire for its failures as historical narrative they argue that it constitutes a vital dimension of Britain's rich cultural heritage, to which all young people deserve to be given access.