HIST 370Bond, Bowie, and Brexit: Britain from 1945 to the New Millennium

The United Kingdom underwent a remarkable transition in the second half of the 20th century. It lost an empire, experienced large-scale immigration from around the world, joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union), and became a global cultural engine. This course examines the history of Britain from the end of the Second World War until recent events including the death of Princess Diana and Brexit. In this course you will study decolonization and its impact on British society, the creation and expansion of the welfare state, the "White Heat" of the "Swinging Sixties," shifting dynamics of class and gender, British popular culture from James Bond to David Bowie to Britpop, Irish and Scottish nationalism, the rise of Margaret Thatcher and neo-liberalism in the 1980s, New Labour in the 1990s, and developments in the new millennium.