This course examines British culture and politics from 1901 through the beginning of the Second World War, with particular attention to changes in political participation and structure; cultural and political debates; changes and continuities in everyday life; technology and media; new party politics; and fascism and other histories of violence.   Throughout the course, both constitutional and cultural histories of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, regions, and nations (e.g. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as well as Britain) are explored.  It highlights how some of these histories have on-going, even urgent, relevance in the present. 

The course spends considerable time on the First World War, including how difficult it is to specify a point at which it “ended,” even a more than a hundred years later.  It also consistently engages with the relation between the history of “Britain” and the British empire, and thus raises questions about the very term “British history.” 

Intended Audience:

No previous knowledge of British history is assumed or required and students from all majors are welcome.