BA (Hons) History

This module will explore the concept of ‘invented histories’: attempts in a variety of popular media to assemble, rearrange, supplement, manipulate, craft, and ultimately invent new narratives about what happened in the past. It will examine a series of case studies across a range of themes: social, political and military. These can be drawn from any time period: ancient to modern and from any region, country or continent.

This module will develop your knowledge, understanding and subject-specific skills related to local and regional history. This will include relevant research methods, including primary source analysis and digital information skills. The module will review the historiography associated with local and regional histories and you will consider a range of perspectives and framings such as the political, social, cultural and economic. A significant focus of the module will be the exploration of the variety of sources available to the historian investigating local history. These will include visual, oral and textual; tangible and intangible; official and private. This activity is normally facilitated by engaging with both physical and digital primary sources. Through practical exercises in the retrieval, synthesis and interpretation of a range of source material you will develop the skills needed to operate successfully in this field.

This module will engage you in a wide-ranging study of the Atlantic World in the early modern period with a particular focus on the 17th and 18th centuries. Through a critical review of secondary texts and a variety of primary source material you will analyse the political, economic, technological, social and cultural history of the Atlantic World, with a particular focus on the ‘Anglophone Atlantic’, its origins, growth and contact with European empires and indigenous peoples in the Americas and Africa. You will engage with historiographical debates concerning the character of the ‘Atlantic World’ with its competing empires and entities and consider whether this is a useful concept for understanding this period of history. Key themes to be explored include: the importance of the trade in goods and the movement of people, including the trans-Atlantic slave trade; the significance of conflict and co-operation between states, sub-state groups and individuals; the importance of identities and how they changed as a result of the Atlantic experience; and the role of science, knowledge and communication in the Atlantic World.

This module will explore a range of protest movements from across the British Isles, setting them in their historical context and investigating their origins, scope, membership, activities and outcomes. By examining a chronological span from the first modern protests to contemporary movements, you will develop an understanding of change and continuity in regard to methods of protest, organisational structures and effectiveness. You will work critically with a wide set of historical texts and primary sources, including audio and visual evidence. The module will also take account of interdisciplinary work on the theory and conceptual development of social movements, in particular from sociology and political science, reflecting the nature of existing scholarship on popular protest. The examples utilised within the module will focus on British movements, but where appropriate references to global networks, antecedants and legacies will be explored. A range of movements with different motivations will be examined, such as: Chartism, trade unionism and parliamentary reform campaigns; regional and/or national independence campaigns; Suffrage and Women’s rights; Peace movements; Civil Rights and Anti-racism; LGBTQ+rights; and Environmentalism. Varied methods of protest will be examined, such as: petitions, demonstrations, direct action and the cultivation of cultural movements through music, art and literature.

This module comprises a work-based placement experience or employment related project, combined with a study of the principles and practice of using and applying historical knowledge and training in the public sphere. The taught element of the module will provide you with the necessary skills to identify and apply for potential employment opportunities and develop your knowledge and understanding of application and interview processes. You will also engage in a critical review of the contemporary manifestations of history/military history in public and private sectors. You will be be given the methodological and theoretical tools to account for the complex and often contested nature of academic and public understandings of the past. Additionally, you will be challenged to consider the issues raised when historical knowledge and methods are applied to workplace contexts. The placement element of the module will support you as you apply your acquired knowledge and skills in a real-life context offering a valuable experience to draw on when you present yourself to employers or selectors upon graduation. The module is designed to enable a range of placements and/or projects to be developed which are most suited to your potential future career. Approved placement hosts are often, though not exclusively, positioned within the heritage, armed forces and education sectors. Working with your appointed tutor and placement providor, you will be directed towards an appropriate placement/project enabling you to both meet the learning outcomes and have a valuable experience that captures the challenges and rewards of using historical knowledge and skills in a work-based learning environment.

This module will engage you in a long view of the history of magic, witchcraft and folklore. The module will begin by surveying the complex relationship between religion, health, miracles and magic during the later medieval period. It will then examine the subsequent development across early modern Europe of a culture of witchcraft persecution and prosecution, which will be considered through the lens of fear, often exacerbated by social status and/or gender. You will finally be tasked to evidence, explain and challenge the meta-narrative for the apparent decline in belief in a witch cult from the 18th century onwards. You will critically examine evidence for the persistence of pagan and magical beliefs as well as the development of folklore and fairy stories into the ‘modern’, ‘enlightened’ age. You will be exposed to relevant primary and secondary material in order to engage fully with the case studies and historical sweep of the module, and will be expected to critically explain and defend your interpretations. A parallel strand running throughout will be critical analysis of the trajectory of historiographical debate associated with the history of magic and, in particular, witchcraft and paganism.

This module surveys the major political, social, military, economic and cultural changes that accompanied the period from the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire to the rise of the Vikings. It focuses on the end of Roman rule in the West and the recent debates about cataclysmic collapse before turning attention to the ‘birth’ of early medieval Europe. You will be encouraged to critically review the evidence for political, social, military, economic and cultural change during this period and consider the varied and contested interpretations placed upon such evidence. The module will consider different historiographical and methodological approaches, as appropriate, and you will learn how to apply these to research and analysis of aspects of this period of history. In particular the module will explore the wealth of available evidence that counters the established characterisation of this period of history as the ‘Dark Ages’and particular consideration will be given to the place of Britain within the networks of power, commerce and religion that developed across western Europe at this time. You will examine the violent rise of post-Roman kingdoms as well as the spread of Christianity and Islam. You will look at how trade initially declinedand the role of Vikings in its revival, and will examine the origins of early modern European states and the legacies of Rome into the early medieval period.

On this module you will explore modern urban history from the global to the regional and local levels. Content is organised thematically, enabling you to engage with historiographical debates and theoretical approaches to the modern city with case studies drawn from every continent. The chronological focus is on cities of the modern age (broadly post-1800). However, the module will include discussion of pre-modern cities (e.g. ancient Greece and Rome), tracing their lineage into the modern period from bustling Victorian industrial cities, coastal conurbations and imperial ports, to twentieth-century skyscrapers and megacities. You will analyse changes in the form and function of urban spaces and explore the profound demographic, architectural, environmental, social, cultural and political changes that took place in these urban spaces and contributed to the very concept of ‘modernity’. On this module you will gain understanding of the urban sphere beyond Britain, taking a comparative approach to a wide variety of case studies and engaging with recent research by urban historians outside the Anglosphere, including India and China. Close reading and discussion of theoretical texts and historiographical debate will be combined with primary source research in physical and digital formats.

This module will engage you in an in-depth assessment of life in Britain during the twenty-year period between the First and Second World Wars. The overarching theme of the module reflects the perennial historiographical debate on whether these years are best seen through a pessimistic lens of political crisis and economic decline, or more positively via a focus on social opportunity and cultural vibrancy. You will engage in critical discussion of interwar politics, debating issues such as: the rise of the Labour Party, Conservative electoral dominance, the failure of political extremism in the British context and the beginning of the end of Empire. Unemployment and economic challenges will also be covered, alongside the rise of consumerism, home-ownership and the growth of leisure activities. Social and cultural change will be examined through a variety of issues such as the experience of women, the decline of the aristocracy and the impact of the wider world upon Britain: for example, the popularity of American jazz music and cinema. The shadow of war will be akey theme throughout, be it the economic and social consequences of the First World War, or international tensions coming out of it that culminated in the 1930s. You will engage with a range of primary source material, including novels, autobiographies, contemporaneous journalism, oral histories, newsreels and film and wil be expected to engage in and frame their interpretations utilising key, recent historiography.

In this module you will explore the nature of armoured warfare during the Second World War. You will examine the rise of the tank during the First World War and the development of theories and doctrines of armoured warfare across different nations during the interwar period. The work of key theorists such as JFC Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart will be examined as well as how theory was applied to the battlefields of the Second World War.

You will explore the major operations of the Second World War across a range of theatres. You will critically assess the use of armour in campaigns such as the German invasions of France and the Soviet Union, the British in the North Africa, and the war in the Pacific. In addition to the evolution of tactics, you will also consider aspects of the training of tank crews and their experiences in battle.

This module provides you with an understanding of the causes and conduct of counterinsurgency operations and how different nations have confronted insurgencies. You will be introduced to key cases studies ranging from the American Civil War, 19th century ‘small wars’ such as the Second Anglo-Boer War to Cold War conflicts such as the Malayan Emergency and Afghanistan. The learning process and challenges faced by militaries when trying to adapt to fighting irregular and counterinsurgency warfare is a key focus.

You will explore and critically assess key concepts relating to counterinsurgency operations as well as the development of theories and doctrines relating to ‘irregular war’ from the colonial to the contemporary world. The links between insurgencies, nationalism, and revolution will be considered as well as the strategic and ethical issues arising from irregular warfare.

This module will engage you in a long view of the history of magic, witchcraft and folklore. The module will begin by surveying the complex relationship between religion, health, miracles and magic during the later medieval period. It will then examine the subsequent development across early modern Europe of a culture of witchcraft persecution and prosecution, which will be considered through the lens of fear, often exacerbated by social status and/or gender. You will finally be tasked to evidence, explain and challenge the meta-narrative for the apparent decline in belief in a witch cult from the 18th century onwards. You will critically examine evidence for the persistence of pagan and magical beliefs as well as the development of folklore and fairy stories into the ‘modern’, ‘enlightened’ age. You will be exposed to relevant primary and secondary material in order to engage fully with the case studies and historical sweep of the module, and will be expected to critically explain and defend your interpretations. A parallel strand running throughout will be critical analysis of the trajectory of historiographical debate associated with the history of magic and, in particular, witchcraft and paganism.

This module surveys the major political, social, military, economic and cultural changes that accompanied the period from the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire to the rise of the Vikings. It focuses on the end of Roman rule in the West and the recent debates about cataclysmic collapse before turning attention to the ‘birth’ of early medieval Europe. You will be encouraged to critically review the evidence for political, social, military, economic and cultural change during this period and consider the varied and contested interpretations placed upon such evidence. The module will consider different historiographical and methodological approaches, as appropriate, and you will learn how to apply these to research and analysis of aspects of this period of history. In particular the module will explore the wealth of available evidence that counters the established characterisation of this period of history as the ‘Dark Ages’and particular consideration will be given to the place of Britain within the networks of power, commerce and religion that developed across western Europe at this time. You will examine the violent rise of post-Roman kingdoms as well as the spread of Christianity and Islam. You will look at how trade initially declinedand the role of Vikings in its revival, and will examine the origins of early modern European states and the legacies of Rome into the early medieval period.

On this module you will explore modern urban history from the global to the regional and local levels. Content is organised thematically, enabling you to engage with historiographical debates and theoretical approaches to the modern city with case studies drawn from every continent. The chronological focus is on cities of the modern age (broadly post-1800). However, the module will include discussion of pre-modern cities (e.g. ancient Greece and Rome), tracing their lineage into the modern period from bustling Victorian industrial cities, coastal conurbations and imperial ports, to twentieth-century skyscrapers and megacities. You will analyse changes in the form and function of urban spaces and explore the profound demographic, architectural, environmental, social, cultural and political changes that took place in these urban spaces and contributed to the very concept of ‘modernity’. On this module you will gain understanding of the urban sphere beyond Britain, taking a comparative approach to a wide variety of case studies and engaging with recent research by urban historians outside the Anglosphere, including India and China. Close reading and discussion of theoretical texts and historiographical debate will be combined with primary source research in physical and digital formats.

This module will engage you in an in-depth assessment of life in Britain during the twenty-year period between the First and Second World Wars. The overarching theme of the module reflects the perennial historiographical debate on whether these years are best seen through a pessimistic lens of political crisis and economic decline, or more positively via a focus on social opportunity and cultural vibrancy.

You will engage in critical discussion of interwar politics, debating issues such as: the rise of the Labour Party, Conservative electoral dominance, the failure of political extremism in the British context and the beginning of the end of Empire. Unemployment and economic challenges will also be covered, alongside the rise of consumerism, home ownership and the growth of leisure activities. Social and cultural change will be examined through a variety of issues such as the experience of women, the decline of the aristocracy and the impact of the wider world upon Britain: for example, the popularity of American jazz music and cinema. The shadow of war will be a key theme throughout, be it the economic and social consequences of the First World War, or international tensions coming out of it that culminated in the 1930s.

You will engage with a range of primary source material, including novels, autobiographies, contemporaneous journalism, oral histories, newsreels and film and will be expected to engage in and frame your interpretations utilising key, recent historiography.

In this module you will explore the nature of armoured warfare during the Second World War. You will examine the rise of the tank during the First World War and the development of theories and doctrines of armoured warfare across different nations during the interwar period. The work of key theorists such as JFC Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart will be examined as well as how theory was applied to the battlefields of the Second World War.

You will explore the major operations of the Second World War across a range of theatres. You will critically assess the use of armour in campaigns such as the German invasions of France and the Soviet Union, the British in the North Africa, and the war in the Pacific. In addition to the evolution of tactics, you will also consider aspects of the training of tank crews and their experiences in battle.

This module provides you with an understanding of the causes and conduct of counterinsurgency operations and how different nations have confronted insurgencies. You will be introduced to key cases studies ranging from the American Civil War, 19th century ‘small wars’ such as the Second Anglo-Boer War to Cold War conflicts such as the Malayan Emergency and Afghanistan. The learning process and challenges faced by militaries when trying to adapt to fighting irregular and counterinsurgency warfare is a key focus.

You will explore and critically assess key concepts relating to counterinsurgency operations as well as the development of theories and doctrines relating to ‘irregular war’ from the colonial to the contemporary world. The links between insurgencies, nationalism, and revolution will be considered as well as the strategic and ethical issues arising from irregular warfare.

This module provides you with the opportunity to engage in close, detailed and systematic historical study of a specific theme or topic at an advanced level. Based upon the in-depth critical reading and interpretation of primary and secondary texts, small group teaching will be led by academics whose specialist historical knowledge will be used as a focus for the chosen theme or topic. Seminar and tutorial sessions will explore the chosen subject area through source-based analysis and critical interpretation with, where appropriate, reflection on the contested nature of historiographical debate. The content will include relevant and specific themes or topics that reflect the research specialisms of the academic staff leading each Special Subject group. Normally a range of history and military history topics will be optionally available each academic year that will provide some degree of both thematic and chronological choice. Subject-specific details relating to the syllabus and session structure will be published in advance of delivery via the University’s VLE. The module is designed to support you as you further develop your subject specific research skills at an appropriate level.

During this module you will undertake a wide-ranging critical study of British imperial development during the nineteenth century. The narrative underpinning the module is the increasingly global and expansionist nature of European empires at that time, with Britain in the vanguard of imperialistic, globalising forces. You will examine the impact of British political and military power, money, technology and culture on the peoples, societies and environments it came into contact with. You will likewise analyse the agency of human responses to imperialism through a mixture of adaptation, co-operation and resistance and be introduced to scholarly research on the geographical and environmental signifance of industrialised imperialism. Additionally, the ways in which British society and culture was transformed by the imperial experience will be a crucial point of consideration with its legacies stretching into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. You will utilise relevant secondary texts and a variety of primary sources in order to understand the most significant political, economic, technological, social and cultural aspects of the imperial experience and engage directly with classic and recent historiographical debates about the nature of the British Empire, its origins, purpose, meaning and legacies.

On this module, you are required to undertake a research-based project, drawing on academic advice as well as your own interests and intellectual skills, to produce a research-driven, written dissertation of 8-10,000 words. You will conduct your research by addressing self-formulated questions, supported by the critical selection, evaluation and analysis of primary and secondary source material. By these means you will devise and sustain a core argument, and/or solve relevant historical problems, to support the premise of your research question. You will proactively manage the first stage of the development of your dissertation by forming conceptual ideas and related arguments and compile aresearch outline, research question and working, annotated bibliography to summarize both quantitatively and qualitatively the research you plan to undertake. Taught sessions will help you to explore and understand the research methodologies and issues of presentation required for the production of a successful history dissertation. You will then have further individual tutorials spread across both semesters, in which allocated dissertation supervisors closely monitor and advise on the development of appropriate, distinctive, and critical arguments in respect of the chosen subject of study.

This module provides you with a critical study of the history of the Cold War ‘conflict’ between the US and its allies, and the Soviet Union during the second half of the 20th century. Through a wide-ranging study, based on primary and secondary sources, the module will review the political, diplomatic and social manifestations of the Cold War. A specific element of the module will focus on the foreign relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, examining the historiographical debates that surround the origins and the end of the Cold War. Key features such as Soviet and U.S. foreign policy, ‘proxywars’ and the role of secret intelligence alongside events such as the founding of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Korea and Suez, the Chinese and Cuban Revolutions, Vietnamese and Afghan Wars will be examined. Popular protest movements will also be considered, such as CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) and the Anti-War movement. Key actors, episodes, events and crises will be addressed through an international lens encouraging you to take a global historical view on the issue of when, or indeed if, the Cold War ended. The module will consider relevant historiographical and methodological approaches, and you will learn how to apply these to the research and analysis of aspects of this period of history.

This module will explore the political history of the French and Haitian revolutions with a focus on the question of how far these revolutions represented the birth of ‘modernity’? In approaching the topic in this way, you will be encouraged to rethink the political ‘events’, personalities and ideas of the period and key economic, military, social and cultural changes in order to focus on the global significance of these revolutions and thus question more deeply the very concept of ‘modernity’. You will utilise the latest scholarship on figures such as Robespierre, Toussaint Louverture and Napoleon and examine case studies from the Fall of the Bastille to the Haitian Declaration of Independence in order to engage with concepts such human rights, racial and gender identity, terrorism, warfare and political violence, as well as questions of individual liberty, slavery, representative government and the role of the nation state in modern society. You will learn and apply the latest historical methods and approaches to an area that has consistently been one of the most creative (and divisive) in terms of historical theory and in so doing will learn about the role of historiographic debate in driving progress in the historical profession. By the end of the module you will be able to understand and intervene in discussions about the meaning and legacy of two revolutions which are frequently said to stand at the gateway to the modern world.

This module will examine the history of crime in Britain from Dickensian visions of young offenders, to 20th century gangsters and moral panics from ‘mods and rockers’ to football hooliganism. The module will also cover the development of the modern police force and policing methods, from the parish constable and early detectives through to the professional and volunteer police forces of the twentieth century. Alongside crime and policing, you will explore the history of the criminal justice system, from courtrooms, to transportation, execution and the modern prison. This will include in-depth analysis of the development of the modern state in Britain, as well as the interaction between central and local government in matters of crime, justice and punishment. Through a wide-ranging study of both primary and secondary material you will be challenged to understand and contextualise the histories of crime, justice and punishment. Particular use will be made of online resources such as the Proceedings of the Old Bailey. Historiographic trends in the study of crime and justice, theories of policing and elements of historical criminology will be a key part of the module and you will be expected to position your own research within that wider context, developing your own conclusions and evidenced arguments through in-depth study, discussion and research.

This module will explore the political history of the French and Haitian revolutions with a focus on the question of how far these revolutions represented the birth of ‘modernity’? In approaching the topic in this way, you will be encouraged to rethink the political ‘events’, personalities and ideas of the period and key economic, military, social and cultural changes in order to focus on the global significance of these revolutions and thus question more deeply the very concept of ‘modernity’. You will utilise the latest scholarship on figures such as Robespierre, Toussaint Louverture and Napoleon and examine case studies from the Fall of the Bastille to the Haitian Declaration of Independence in order to engage with concepts such human rights, racial and gender identity, terrorism, warfare and political violence, as well as questions of individual liberty, slavery, representative government and the role of the nation state in modern society. You will learn and apply the latest historical methods and approaches to an area that has consistently been one of the most creative (and divisive) in terms of historical theory and in so doing will learn about the role of historiographic debate in driving progress in the historical profession. By the end of the module you will be able to understand and intervene in discussions about the meaning and legacy of two revolutions which are frequently said to stand at the gateway to the modern world.

This module will examine the history of crime in Britain from Dickensian visions of young offenders, to 20th century gangsters and moral panics from ‘mods and rockers’ to football hooliganism. The module will also cover the development of the modern police force and policing methods, from the parish constable and early detectives through to the professional and volunteer police forces of the twentieth century. Alongside crime and policing, you will explore the history of the criminal justice system, from courtrooms, to transportation, execution and the modern prison. This will include in-depth analysis of the development of the modern state in Britain, as well as the interaction between central and local government in matters of crime, justice and punishment. Through a wide-ranging study of both primary and secondary material you will be challenged to understand and contextualise the histories of crime, justice and punishment. Particular use will be made of online resources such as the Proceedings of the Old Bailey. Historiographic trends in the study of crime and justice, theories of policing and elements of historical criminology will be a key part of the module and you will be expected to position your own research within that wider context, developing your own conclusions and evidenced arguments through in-depth study, discussion and research.