The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

People who are doing/have done AS History

I'm going to self-teach AS History this year, so wanted to know the revision/study books the school students use. :biggrin:
Can you recommend any books?
p.s. The exam board is Edexcel, although I don't think this matters a lot.

Scroll to see replies

Depends on the topics you are studying. If you are studying anything related to the Bolshevik Revolution and beyond, like the USSR under Stalin, I advise you this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Communist-Russia-Stalin-Advanced-History/dp/0719574889/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256133788&sr=8-1

History is a difficult subject to self-teach because it is partly assessed through the use of sources. So, I advise you to ensure you fully understand the exam techniques required.

There are also handy little guides I had when studying AS History, but I don't hink they have any for the new syllabuses.
Depending on what topics you are doing.

I did Russia 18??-1945, and British Politics 1945-1990.

For both I used Access to History's guides that were all written by Michael Lynch.

They were very, very useful.

I agree that it'll be a difficult subject to self-teach, but not necessarily because of the use of sources - I just think that you need to be constantly assessed throughout the year to perfect your essay writing technique in general. History examiners can be very specific in how they want it to be written, which is very different to an English essay at the same level.
Reply 3
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
Really :s-smilie: Someone made a thread about self teaching History few weeks back and lots of people said it was easy, so I decided to have a go as I was interested. Now I'm bit scared and it's too late to back down (sent my UCAS already). Guess I will start self-teaching soon.
I'm doing History on Edexcel. The units we're doing are:

Unit 1 - Pursuing Life and Liberty: Equality in the USA 1945-68, using this textbook - http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340965835/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Unit 2 - Britain and the Nationalist Challenge in India 1900-47, but haven't got the books for that yet.
SomeStudent
Really :s-smilie: Someone made a thread about self teaching History few weeks back and lots of people said it was easy, so I decided to have a go as I was interested. Now I'm bit scared and it's too late to back down (sent my UCAS already). Guess I will start self-teaching soon.


Ofcourse you should go for it. History is a really fascinating subject and if you are interested in it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, something which be of great help when it comes to studying the subject. On top of that, self-teaching is a really interesting challenge. I self-taught myself AS Law and really enjoyed it.
Reply 6
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
Snookercraze
Ofcourse you should go for it. History is a really fascinating subject and if you are interested in it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, something which be of great help when it comes to studying the subject. On top of that, self-teaching is a really interesting challenge. I self-taught myself AS Law and really enjoyed it.


Thanks for the encouragement :biggrin:
Wow, law... that's hard. Did you ask someone to mark your essay/exam questions or did it by yourself? I put in my ucas that I'm doing Edexcel, although now I'm leaning towards AQA as the topics in it seem more interesting. Do you think the unis will mind if I take AQA instead of Edexcel.
SomeStudent
Really :s-smilie: Someone made a thread about self teaching History few weeks back and lots of people said it was easy, so I decided to have a go as I was interested. Now I'm bit scared and it's too late to back down (sent my UCAS already). Guess I will start self-teaching soon.


Oh, I didn't mean to discourage you. I'm sure you'll be fine.
SomeStudent
Thanks for the encouragement :biggrin:
Wow, law... that's hard. Did you ask someone to mark your essay/exam questions or did it by yourself? I put in my ucas that I'm doing Edexcel, although now I'm leaning towards AQA as the topics in it seem more interesting. Do you think the unis will mind if I take AQA instead of Edexcel.


AS Law wasn't too bad, to be honest. I did everything by myself; earnt the content, practised and marked past papers etc. I had a fantastic student guide.

As for the UCAS stuff, I'd probably just ring them up to let them know, though I doubt they'd be bothered about you doing AQA rather than Edexcel.
Reply 9
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
Snookercraze
AS Law wasn't too bad, to be honest. I did everything by myself; earnt the content, practised and marked past papers etc. I had a fantastic student guide.

As for the UCAS stuff, I'd probably just ring them up to let them know, though I doubt they'd be bothered about you doing AQA rather than Edexcel.


It's pretty amazing to me, considering that all students doing Law in my school failed 3 years in a row, apart from 2 students who got Ds. :s-smilie:

Thanks, can I ask which exam board was it? (for Law, I mean)
Reply 10
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
RedRevolver
Oh, I didn't mean to discourage you. I'm sure you'll be fine.


You didn't, you actually gave me some motivation... I'm choosing my topics now :biggrin: Thanks.
SomeStudent
You didn't, you actually gave me some motivation... I'm choosing my topics now :biggrin: Thanks.


Just so you know... I wouldn't recommend the American civil rights unit :no:
SomeStudent
It's pretty amazing to me, considering that all students doing Law in my school failed 3 years in a row, apart from 2 students who got Ds. :s-smilie:

Thanks, can I ask which exam board was it? (for Law, I mean)


I did AQA Law. I only chose 3 A-Levels in my first year, so had to choose an AS so I'd have 3 full A-levels and one AS. Would loved to have done A2 Law, and even at uni, but my love for History is too much. :biggrin:

I think Nazi Germany and Russia are units you should look to choose, if available.
I'd go for the Cold War in Europe (AQA), there seems to always be a question about the start, the middle and the end of the war, you only have to do 2 questions, so you don't need to learn the whole course.
Result, especially since I effectively self-taught this part of AS History (seriously inept teacher) and got an A.
I just used the school's textbooks.
SomeStudent
I'm going to self-teach AS History this year, so wanted to know the revision/study books the school students use. :biggrin:
Can you recommend any books?
p.s. The exam board is Edexcel, although I don't think this matters a lot.

what period are you studying? :smile:
Reply 16
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
Snookercraze
I did AQA Law. I only chose 3 A-Levels in my first year, so had to choose an AS so I'd have 3 full A-levels and one AS. Would loved to have done A2 Law, and even at uni, but my love for History is too much. :biggrin:

I think Nazi Germany and Russia are units you should look to choose, if available.


I guess you did AQA History as well... Yes, I'm considering Unit 1: USA and Unit 2: Life in Nazi Germany

Jonty99
I just used the school's textbooks.


Which ones? I don't go to school anymore, I'm going to self teach :smile:

Sakura-Chan
Just so you know... I wouldn't recommend the American civil rights unit :no:


There's no chance of that happening :p:

dothestrand
I'd go for the Cold War in Europe (AQA), there seems to always be a question about the start, the middle and the end of the war, you only have to do 2 questions, so you don't need to learn the whole course.
Result, especially since I effectively self-taught this part of AS History (seriously inept teacher) and got an A.


hmm... I can't find that on the AS specification. Did you do the old specification? Well done by the way :biggrin: it's good to know that it's possible. How did you find AS history overall?
Reply 17
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
emilyjane_09
what period are you studying? :smile:


I haven't decided yet. Probably 'Life in Nazi Germany' and another one.
What about you?
Yeah, I just realised it was actually OCR.
My bad.
But AS was fine, it's not the biggest workload ever.
And my teacher didn't actually teach me anything, so I'm sure you'll be fine :smile:
Reply 19
Avatar for SomeStudent
SomeStudent
OP
15
Thanks dothestrand :biggrin:

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you