CHOICES IN BRITISH HISTORY
1) MEDIEVAL OPTIONS
(BRITISH HISTORY PAPERS I, 11 AND III)
British History I, c.500-1087, beginning with the Conversion of the English to
Christianity in the Seventh Century, covering the Anglo-Saxon political, social,
economic and ecclesiastical institutions; the impact of the Viking invasions; relations
with the Celtic neighbours of the English; the development of English law and
administration; and the emergence after Alfred the Great of a united kingdom in the
tenth century, ending with the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century.
British History II, 1042-1330, dealing with the details and consequences of the
Norman Conquest; the Anglo-Norman-Angevin empire; the challenge to tradition by
church reform; the development of a distinctive political culture and legal system in
the thirteenth century based on social and economic changes; contrasts and relations
with other British kingdoms and regions; ending with the creation of effective
methods of royal government, national consensual taxation and law-making through,
for example, the forum of the English Parliament.
British History III, 1330-1550, opening with the commitment to the Hundred Years
War and covering the changes in relations between crown, nobility and political
nation; the impact of Plague; the changes in economic circumstance and social status
of the landlords and peasantry; the Peasants’ Revolt; elaboration of a cult of
monarchy under Richard II and Henry V; the rise of English as a vernacular and of
literacy; the breakdown of royal authority and the Wars of the Roses; the challenges
to the established church by Lollards and later common lawyers and Protestants; the
variety of later medieval systems of piety and learning, in schools and universities; the
establishment of the Tudors and the question of new methods of government and
administration in the context of a wider political nation.
These are well suited as introductory papers as much of the work is concerned with
interpretation of primary sources easily available to undergraduates ( eg. Bede or
Magna Carta or Henry V’s propaganda; art, architecture, or literature from Beowulf to
Malory). Within these wide chronological periods there is no set syllabus.
Undergraduates are encouraged to pursue their own historical interests. The tutorial
system works best if focused on the tastes of students as much as the requirements of
the course. The two will coincide. To prepare for the first term’s work, some
introductory reading is ESSENTIAL, not least to enable you to make up your mind on
which topics are congenial. The following highly selective bibliographies are
designed to assist this preparation. YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO READ ALL OF
THE SUGGESTED READING; THE BOOKS BELOW MERELY INDICATE THE
RANGE OF WHAT IS AVAILABLE; SELECT ANY THAT LOOK
INTERESTING.
BRITISH HISTORY I
J.Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons (the best of its kind)
D.J.V.Fisher, The Anglo-Saxon Age (sound)
J.Blair, The Anglo-Saxons (a very short introduction)
F.M.Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (an aged classic)
D.Whitelock, The Beginnings of English Society
H.Loyn, The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England
R.Hodges, The Anglo-Saxon Achievement
R.Hodges, Dark Age Economics
D.M.Wilson, The Anglo-Saxons For archaeology)
P.Wormald, The Making of English Law
For sources look at Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (Oxford trans. better than the
Penguin); Alfred the Great, ed. Keynes and Lapidge (Penguin Classic) or English
Historical Documents (gen ed D.C.Douglas), vol.1
BRITISH HISTORY II
H.Loyn, Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest
P.Stafford, Unification and Conquest (on pre-1066 background)
R.Frame, The Political Development of the British Isles ( a long view)
B.Golding, Conquest and Colonisation
M.Clanchy, England and its Rulers 1066-1272 (lots of good ideas)
R.Bartlett, England under the Angevin and Norman Kings (an often confusing mine)
J.Hudson, The Formation of the English Common Law (usefully clear)
R.R.Davies, The First English Empire (fizzing)
R.R.Davies, The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063-1415
A.Duncan, Scotland: The Making of a Kingdom
J.L.Bolton, The Medieval English Economy
E.Miller and J.Hatcher, Medieval England: Rural Society and Social Change
R.Britnell, The Commercialisation of English Society 1000-1500 (stimulating)
M.Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record (brilliant insights)
The Yale ‘English Monarchs’ series has excellent medieval volumes of biographies
For sources, English Historiocal Documents vols. II & III are essential and more fun
than they at first seem
BRITISH HISTORY III
M.Keen, England in the later Middle Ages (still a good analytical narrative)
M.Keen, English Society in the Later Middle Ages (usefully clear)
K.B.MacFarlane, The Nobility of Late Medieval England (a classic; very influential)
R.Horrox ed. The Black Death
S.K.Cohn, The Black Death Transformed (stimulating revisionism; wide horizons)
W.M.Ormrod, The Reign of Edward III
N.Saul, Richard II
G.Harriss, Henry V: the Practice of Kingship
J.Watts, Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship
C.Carpenter, The Wars of the Roses
J.A.Guy, Tudor England
C.Dyer, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages
S.H.Rigby, English Society in the Later Middle Ages
R.Britnell, The Commercialisation of English Society 1000-1500
R.B.Dobson, The Peasants’ Revolt
C.Harper-Bill, The Pre-Reformation Church in England 1400-1530
E.Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars
R.Rex, The Lollards (flawed revisionism)
A.Grant, Independence and Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469
M.Keen, Chivalry
For sources, see English Historical Documents vol IV.
There are many other works, including catalogues of exhibitions on Anglo-Saxon
and Medieval Art. Go and look at some medieval remains; churches, castles, houses,
street plans, place names etc. as well as artefacts in museums and galleries. Many of
you will live in places mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book; try finding out in your
Public Library (in the J.Morris translation or the new Penguin translation) what the
survey said about your area.
2) THE EARLY MODERN OPTION:
BRITISH HISTORY IV: 1500-1700
This period covers the “classic age of the Tudor Monarchy, the English Civil War,
Restoration and “Glorious Revolution”. It focuses on key political, social and
cultural issues across the period: the Henrician Reformation followed by the various
religious upheavals of the mid-16th century, and the apparent settlement of the later
sixteenth century, which was radically disrupted by the early Stuarts and the Civil
War. The course examines British History, and events in Ireland and Scotland also
feature largely, and no less the transformation of economic and social relations as
population growth fed urbanization, led to a polarization of resources and bred social
tensions across society.
Introductory Texts:
C.S. L. Davies, Peace, Print and Protestantism, 1440-1558.
P. Williams, The Tudor Regime.
J. Guy, Tudor England.
S. Brigden, New Worlds, Lost Worlds. The Rule of the Tudors.
J. Wormald, Court, Kirk and Community in Scotland, 1470-1625.
S. Ellis, Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1477-1603.
M. Kishlansky, A Monarchy Transformed. Britain 1603-1714.
J. Scott, England’s Troubles. Seventeenth Century English Political Instability in
European Context.
More Specific Studies:
Politics:
H. Miller, Henry VIII and the English Nobility.
D. Starkey (ed.) The English Court From the Wars of the Roses to the Civil Wars.
J. Guy (ed.), The Reign of Elizabeth I. Court and Culture in the last decade.
G. Burgess, Absolute Monarchy and the Stuart Constitution .
L. Levy-Peck (ed.), The Mental World of the Jacobean Court.
H. Trevor-Roper, Catholics, Anglicans and Puritans.
C. Russell, The Causes of the English Civil War.
J. Morrill, The Revolt of the Provinces. Conservatives and Radicals in the English
Civil War, 1630-1650.
M. Kishlansky, The Rise of the New Model Army.
B. Worden, The Rump Parliament
R. Hutton, The Restoration. A Political and Religious History of England and Wales,
1658-1667.
Religion:
E. Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars. Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580.
C. Haigh, English Reformations. Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors.
J. Scarisbrick, The Reformation and the English People.
S. Brigden, London and the Reformation.
P. Collinson, The Religion of Protestants. The Church in English Society, 15591625.
N. Tyacke, Anti-Calvinists. The Rise of English Arminianism, c. 1590-1640.
K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic.
Society and Culture:
F. Heal, C. Holmes, The Gentry in England and Wales, 1500-1700.
K. Wrightson, English Society, 1580-1680.
J. Sharpe, Early Modern England. A Social History, 1550-1760.
R. Houlbroooke, The English Family, 1450-1700.
J. Sharpe, Crime in Early Modern England.
R. Strong, The English Icon.
M. Smuts, Culture and Power in England, 1585-1685.
K. Sharpe, P. Lake (eds.) Culture and Politics in Early Stuart England.
3) THE MODERN BRITISH OPTIONS:
(Please do not choose either of these if you have studied modern British History at Alevel. We would prefer students to start on something unfamiliar in this first term in
Oxford, which will make it easier to overcome A-level assumptions about the work
expected of you. But if you have studied medieval or early modern history at A-level,
feel free to choose BH VI or BH VII)
BRITISH HISTORY VI: 1830-1924
This course examines Britain’s imperial role in the wider world and the politics
underpinning an age of greatness, but is no less concerned with questions of
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century society, broadly defined through an
understanding of social structures and interrelationships, and through economic and
cultural perspectives on the period.
B.W.E. Alford, Britain in the world economy since 1880 (1996)
T.M. Devine, The Scottish nation 1700-2000 (1999)
E.J. Evans, The forging of the modern state: early industrial Britain 1783-1870 (3rd
edn., 2000)
R. Foster, Modern Ireland 1600-1972 (1988)
N. Gash, Aristocracy and people 1815-1865 (1979)
S. Glynn & A. Booth, Modern Britain: an economic and social history (1996)
A. Hardy, Health and medicine in Britain since 1860 (2000)
J. Harris, Private lives, public spirit: Britain 1870-1914 (1994)
T.O. Lloyd, Empire, welfare state, Europe: English history 1906-1992 (4th edn.,
1993)
P. Mathias, The first industrial nation: an economic history of Britain 1700-1914 (2nd
edn., 1983)
J. Parry, The rise and fall of liberal government in Victorian Britain (1993)
H. Perkin, The rise of professional society: England since 1880 (1989)
B. Porter, The lion’s share: a short history of British Imperialism 1850-1995 (3rd edn.,
1996)
F.M.L. Thompson, The rise of respectable society: a social history of Victorian
Britain 1830-1890 (1988).
BRITISH HISTORY VII (SINCE 1900)
This course takes English political history through the two world wars, the retreat
from Empire and into Thatcherism and the politics of the 1980’s and 1990’s. It is also
concerned with major social and economic issues from the Great Depression through
the evolution of the Welfare State. Britain in the wider world also figures as part of
this course, as does the study of the relations between the constituent parts of the
Union.
D. Butler and D. Stokes, Political change in Britain (1974)
D. Childs, Britain since 1939: progress and decline (2nd edn., 2001)
P. Clarke, Hope and glory: Britain 1900-1990 (1996)
T.M. Devine, The Scottish nation 1700-2000 (1999)
R. Foster, Modern Ireland 1600-1972 (1988)
D. Gladstone, The twentieth century welfare state (1999)
A. Hardy, Health and medicine in Britain since 1860 (2000)
D. Kavanagh, Thatcherism and British politics (1987)
J. Lewis, Women in Britain since 1945 (1992)
T.O. Lloyd, Empire, welfare state, Europe: English history 1906-1992 (4th edn.,
1993)
A. Marwick, British society since 1945 (2nd edn., 1996)
H. Perkin, The rise of professional society: England since 1880 (1989)
B. Porter, The lion’s share: a short history of British Imperialism 1850-1995 (3rd edn.,
1996)
D. Reynolds, Britannia overruled: British policy and world power in the Twentieth
Century (2nd edn., 2000)