Reading and Resources

Featuring key themes that we will cover over the course of the module, some texts you might like to familiarise yourself with before the module begins:

• David Edgerton, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History (London, 2018).Link opens in a new window
• Akala, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (London, 2018).
• Nadine El-Enany, (B)ordering Britain: Law, Race and Empire (Manchester, 2020).Link opens in a new window
• Paul Gilroy, There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation (London, 1987).Link opens in a new window
• Pat Thane, Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present (Cambridge, 2018).Link opens in a new window
• Kennetta Hammond Perry, London is the Place for Me: Black Britons, Citizenship, and the Politics of Race (Oxford, 2015).Link opens in a new window

Other important general texts that will prove useful across the whole year:

• P. F. Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain, 1900-2000 (London, 2004).Link opens in a new window
• Paul Addison and Harriet Jones (eds.), A Companion to Contemporary Britain, 1939-2000 (Oxford, 2005).Link opens in a new window
• Kenneth O. Morgan, Twentieth-century Britain: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000).Link opens in a new window
• Martin Pugh, State and Society: A Social and Political History of Britain since 1870 (London, 2022).Link opens in a new window
• Richard Weight, Patriots: National Identity in Britain, 1940-2000 (London, 2002).Link opens in a new window
• Paul Ward, Britishness since 1870 (London, 2004).Link opens in a new window
• Jose Harris, Private Lives, Public Spirit: A Social History of Britain, 1870-1914 (Oxford, 1993).Link opens in a new window
• Paul Johnson, Twentieth-century Britain: Economic, Social and Cultural Change (New York, 2007).Link opens in a new window
• James Vernon, Modern Britain, 1750 to the Present (Cambridge, 2025).Link opens in a new window
• Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Women in Twentieth-Century Britain (New York, 2014).Link opens in a new window
• Sheila Rowbotham, A Century of Women: The History of Women in Britain and the United States (London, 1997).Link opens in a new window
• Satnam Virdee, Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider (Basingstoke, 2014).Link opens in a new window

For the latest articles on the subject:

Look at recent issues of journals such as Twentieth Century British History,Link opens in a new window the Journal of British StudiesLink opens in a new window, and Contemporary British HistoryLink opens in a new window.

For a comprehensive list of essays, articles and books on any topic in modern British history, search via the electronic Bibliography of British and Irish History (available as electronic database on the Library websiteLink opens in a new window).

For primary sources, some places to begin looking include:

• The library holds several searchable electronic databases of primary sources that will prove helpful, such as various newspaper archives Link opens in a new windowand all published government reports for the periodLink opens in a new window.
• The Modern Records CentreLink opens in a new window, which is attached to the library, is one of the main archives in the country for the history of twentieth-century Britain. It holds original material that could provide the basis for important original research relating to the module and welcomes student researchers. The MRC catalogue Link opens in a new windowis readily searchable, and contains many things available to access online. The MRC website also has a special page devoted to sources that may be helpful for this moduleLink opens in a new window, and you will also find useful material on its pages for other Warwick History modulesLink opens in a new window.