Rachel Bryant Davies is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University of LondonBarbara Gribling is a Visiting Researcher in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University

‘Pasts at play makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on informal learning, revealing how much more we understand about the history of education when we look beyond the school gates.’ Siân Pooley, Victorian Studies

• Introduction: pasts at play – Rachel Bryant Davies and Barbara GriblingPart I: Biblical and archaeological pasts1 Noah’s Ark-aeology and nineteenth-century children – Melanie Keene2 Bringing Egypt home: children’s encounters with ancient Egypt in the long nineteenth century – Virginia ZimmermanPart II: Classical pasts3 Didactic heroes: masculinity, sexuality and exploration in the Argonaut story of Kingsley’s The Heroes – Helen Lovatt4 ‘Fun from the Classics’: puzzling antiquity in The Boy’s Own Paper – Rachel Bryant DaviesPart III: Medieval and early modern pasts5 Youthful consumption and conservative visions: Robin Hood and Wat Tyler in late Victorian penny periodicals – Stephen Basdeo6 A tale of two ladies? Stuart women as role models for Victorian and Edwardian girls and young women – Rosemary MitchellPart IV: Revived pasts7 Tarry-at-home antiquarians: children’s ‘tour books’ 1740–1840 – M. O. Grenby8 Playing with the past: child consumers, pedagogy and British history games, c. 1780–1850 – Barbara Gribling9 Re-enacting local history in the Stepney Children’s Pageant, 1909 – Ellie ReidAppendix A: A list of 'tour books' – M. O. GrenbyAppendix B: A list of British history-themed toys and games – Barbara GriblingIndex