History

In this course, Professor Jonathan Harris (Royal Holloway, London) explores the capture of Byzantium by the Ottomans in late May 1453. We begin by thinking of the decline of the Byzantine Empire, and the growth of the Ottoman Empire, in...

In this course, Professor Neville Morley (University of Bristol) explores Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, focusing on the key episodes in the text and thinking in particular about some of the historiographical issues that modern...

In this course, Professor Matthew Stibbe (Sheffield Hallam University) explores Weimar Germany through twelve key questions: (1) Was Weimar Germany doomed to fail from the start?; (2) Why did Weimar fail in the early 1930s?; (3) How much of a...

In this course, Dr Simon Potter (University of Bristol) explores the final decades of the British Empire, from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to Britain’s withdrawal of troops “East of Suez”, announced by Harold Wilson in...

In this course, Professor Michael Dillon (Durham University) explores the Cultural Revolution in China through nine key questions: (1) What was the meaning of the name ‘Cultural Revolution’?; (2) Why did Mao launch the Cultural Revolution when he...

In this course, Dr Robert Crowcroft (University of Edinburgh) explores British politics between the years 1918-45. In the first module, we think about the reasons for the political domination of the Conservative Party in this period, focusing in...

In this course, Dr Jonathan Willis (University of Birmingham) explores religion and the church in Tudor England through six key questions: (1) To what extent was criticism of the Late Medieval Catholic Church the main reason for the growth of...

In this course, Dr Lisa Pine (London South Bank University) explores several aspects of Nazi Germany. In the first module, we think about the rise of Nazism from the foundation of the DAP (later the NSDAP) in 1919 to Hitler's appointment as...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores events in the Holy Land between the end of the Second Crusade and the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. In the first module, we focus on the Turkish commander Nur...

In this course, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) thinks about the Great Terror, Stalin’s campaign of political repression between 1936-38 that left more than 750,000 dead. In the first module, we think about the sources available for...

In this course, Dr Nadine Rossol (University of Essex) explores the early years of the Weimar Republic (1918-23). In the first module, we trace events in the final years in the First World War up to the events in Kiel in late October/early...

In this course, Dr Kevin Waite (University of Durham) explores the Sectional Crisis of 1848-61, the period of rising tensions between the free states of the American North and the slave states of the American South, which eventually led to...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores the Second Crusade (1144-48). We start by thinking about the origins of the Second Crusade, focusing in particular on the fall of Edessa at the hands of Zengi. In the...

In this course, Professor Mark White (Queen Mary, University of London) explores the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. We begin by thinking about the background to the Cuban Missile Crisis, including Kennedy’s policies towards Cuba ...