It is very common for people in politics and the media to make assumptions about what happens in history classrooms. Too often these preconceptions are based on little more than anecdote, examples from the Internet or memories of what someone experienced at school themselves. In this article, Catriona Pennell reports on an empirical study that set out to explore how the First World War is taught in English schools, and what rationale teachers give for teaching it. This evidence base allows Pennell to set out a complex picture that makes it possible for people to hold more informed views as to what is going on in history classrooms across the country.