The Modern World

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Professor Frank Trentmann
• Assessment: a 500-word summary of a scholarly article (20%), a 1000-word book review (20%), a 1500-word essay (20%) and a 48-hour online examination (40%) with 60% attendance requirement

The aim of this course is to provide you with a basic knowledge of the history of Britain, Europe and the world in the long nineteenth century. The lectures are arranged chronologically and thematically. They are followed by classes focusing on a key text related to the subject.

Indicative module content

Term 1: The Age of Revolution (1776 to 1848)

• Introduction: the birth of the modern world
• The crisis of the ancien régime
• Revolutions and popular politics
• Global war and restoration
• Agrarian and industrial revolutions
• Slavery and serfdom
• The making of the working class?
• Peoples and parliaments
• Worlds of faith
• Visions of progress

Term 2: The Age of Empire (1848 to 1914)

• Introduction: expansion and crisis
• Nations and states
• The new imperialism
• Resisting empires
• Trade and globalisation
• The modern city
• Mass politics
• Migration and mobility
• Cultures of modernity
• The origins of the First World War