History 155 - Modern Britain, 1688-Present

Britain has long been considered an exemplary modern nation, credited, for example, with the world's first industrial economy, modern institutions of representative politics, a vibrant public sphere, a powerful war and welfare state, and one of the largest empires in world history. Using a combination of primary and secondary source readings, classroom lectures and discussions, and various written assessments, this course will ask how modern imperial Britain was made and how this history relates to the broader currents of world history.