Modern Britain and the Empire, 1688-2016

(History 39 is offered for 3 units; History 139 is offered for 5 units.) This course surveys British history from the Glorious Revolution to Brexit. We will integrate the stories of Britain and its empire as we examine key topics, including the rise of the modern British state and economy, imperial expansion and contraction, the formation of class, gender, and national identities, mass culture and politics, the world wars, and racial politics in contemporary Britain. We will focus particularly on questions of decline, the dynamic fortunes and contradictions of British liberalism in an era of imperialism, and the weight of the past in contemporary Britain. Readings focus on primary sources from the period covered as well as a few scholarly works.