Courses in London & Online

Both victorious and defeated powers saw their empires dwindle as a consequences of the Second World War. This course looks at the fall of these empires in the period 1940-1991 and also at how the Cold War led to new spheres of influence and opportunities for domination, and the factors that gave rise to these.

Explore reasons for the fall of Rome and the emergence of the ‘barbarian’ kingdoms of western Europe. Was it really ‘the Dark Ages’? Were the Vikings simply long-haired tourists who occasionally beat up the natives?

The course examines the postwar political, economic and social consensus in Britain in the 30 years after the Second World and the extent to which there was continuity in successive government policies.

This course explores the forces that shaped London between the coming of the Normans and the age of



the Tudors.

The First World War didn’t erupt overnight—it was the result of decades of tensions, miscalculations, and fatal decisions. This course explores the long-term rivalries, shifting alliances, and short-term crises that led Europe to the brink in 1914. How did political ambitions, military strategies, and diplomatic failures push the world into an unprecedented conflict? Join us as we unravel the complex path to war and ask: was the catastrophe inevitable, or could history have taken a different turn?

Join us for an introduction to the major themes of imperial history in the past 200 years of African history, where we will contextualise many of the trends and challenges in the continent today and view Africa in a new light.

Heard about the Sumerians and want to know more? In this course we will explore the first great civilisation of Mesopotamia, and of the world as a whole.

Fiction writers are often the first to identify and analyse a social phenomenon. We will examine two centuries of London history through the eyes of novelists and poets, from William Blake to Zadie Smith.

This course offers a broad survey of Nazi Germany, its leaders and its population, its racial ideology, political ambitions and structures of rule, its opponents and its victims, and its ultimate descent into world war and genocide.

This 10 week course focuses on the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union from a global perspective. Going beyond the traditional focus on the superpowers and Europe, we will explore how the Cold War affected every part of the world and created the current international system.