This course will examine the significant political, social, economic, and cultural transformations that have shaped British history in the modern era. It will explore key events and themes that influenced British development, including: the nature of “Britain” as a multinational, multi-ethnic polity; the impact and influence of Britain as a commercial, and later military, global empire; the role of Britain as a “model” of evolutionary historical development; the British experience of the two world wars; the creation of a socialist welfare state in the intellectual homeland of economic and political liberalism; and recent efforts to question and reform the post-war social and political consensus.