The Peculiar Modernity of Britain,Fall 2011

Overview

1848-2000 - For many years, Britain was seen as the crucible of the modern world. This small, cold, and wet island was thought to have been the first to develop representative democracy, an industrial economy, rapid transport, mass cities, mass communication and mass culture, and, of course, an empire upon which the sun famously never set. And yet, despite this precocious modernity, imperial Britain remained a deeply traditional society unable to rid itself of ancient institutions like the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the established church. The focus of the course is on how this combination of the old and the new produced a broadly liberal set of mentalities through which Britons came to understand and manage the great transformations of modern life, both at home and across the empire