HST119: The Transformation of the United Kingdom 1800 to the present

20 credits (Semester 2)

Module Leader: Dr Colin Reid (2023-24)

Module Summary

This module explores the main political, social, economic, cultural and diplomatic developments that have transformed the United Kingdom since 1800. Unlike most of its European neighbours, the United Kingdom did not experience dramatic moments of revolution, constitution-building, invasion or military defeat; indeed the belief that the nation was set on a course of gradual evolutionary progress was central to many versions of British identity. 

This course examines how, when and why change occurred in the United Kingdom. Key themes include the transition to mass democracy; the impact of industrialisation; shifts in social relationships based on class, gender and ethnicity; and the rise and fall of Britain as an imperial power.

Teaching and Assessment

Coursework (30%)

Participation (20%)

Take-home exam (50%)

For more information about assessment, please see the Module Handbook, which will be made available to you at the start of the semester, and this document.

Selected Reading

There is no single course text, but the following books provide helpful introductions to various parts of the period, and are worth consulting throughout the semester in order to provide background and context. The starred volumes are particularly recommended.

• Paul Addison, No Turning Back: The Peacetime Revolutions of Post-War Britain (Oxford, 2010)

• George Bernstein, The Myth of Decline: The Rise of Britain Since 1945 (London, 2004)

• Paul Bew, Ireland: The Politics of Enmity, 1789-2006 (Oxford, 2007)

• Jeremy Black, The Making of Modern Britain. The Age of Empire to New Millennium (Stroud, 2007)

• Kathleen Burk (ed.), The British Isles Since 1945 (Oxford, 2003)

• Callum Brown and Hamish Fraser, Britain since 1707 (London, 2010)

• *Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-2000 (2nd edn., London, 2004)

• Eric Evans, The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain 1783-1870 (3rd edn. London, 2001)

• *Eric J. Evans, The Shaping of Modern Britain: Identity, Industry and Empire, 1780-1914 (London, 2011)

• *R. F. Foster, Modern Ireland, 1600-1972 (London, 1988)

• Jose Harris, Public Lives, Private Spirit: Britain 1870-1914 (Harmondsworth, 1994)

• Brian Harrison, Finding a Role?: The United Kingdom 1970-1990 (Oxford, 2011)

• Brian Harrison, Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951-1970 (Oxford, 2011)

• J. F. C. Harrison, Early Victorian Britain 1832-51 (London, 1988)

• *Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew, Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000)

• Boyd Hilton, A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783-1846 (Oxford, 2006)

• K. Theodore Hoppen, The Mid-Victorian Generation 1846-1886 (Oxford, 1998)

• Norman McCord, British History 1815-1906 (Oxford, 1991)

• Colin Matthew, (ed.), The Nineteenth Century: The British Isles 1815-1901 (Oxford, 2000)

• Kenneth Morgan, The People’s Peace: British History Since 1945 (1992; Oxford, 1999)

• *Kenneth Morgan, Twentieth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000)

• *Senia Paseta, Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2003)

• *Martin Pugh, State and Society: A Social and Political History of Britain since 1870 (3rd edn., London, 2008)

• Keith Robbins, The Eclipse of a Great Power: Modern Britain 1870-1992 (2nd ed., London, 1994)

• Keith Robbins, (ed.), The British Isles 1901-1951 (Oxford, 2002)

• Edward Royle, Modern Britain: A Social History 1750-1997 (2nd edn., London, 1997)

• G. R. Searle, A New England? Peace and War 1886-1918 (Oxford, 2004)

• Pat Thane, Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present (Cambridge, 2018)

• James Vernon, Modern Britain: 1750 to the Present (Cambridge, 2017)

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this module will have developed:

•  a broad understanding of the central political, social, economic, cultural and diplomatic developments that have transformed the United Kingdom since 1800.

• the ability to think constructively about the interaction of political, social, economic, cultural and international factors in patterns of historical change in the United Kingdom.

•  the ability to identify the main historiographical interpretations of change in the United Kingdom.

•  the ability to present material in seminars and participate intelligently in discussion with both the tutor and fellow students.

•  the ability to write informed and coherent essays under pressure of time.