[DisconcertingWink1]

Has anyone asked for any history books/films for Christmas?

[waterloo-sunset]

(Original post by SSDD95)
Hi fellow historians

I'm doing History, Politics, Law and Maths at AS (will probably drop Maths after AS)

I've looked into places like York, Nottingham, Southampton but alot will depend on my AS results

I'm mostly interested in 19th/20th Century British and European history, has anyone got any suggestions for books that I should have a look at?

Hello

I'm a 2012 applicant (yes, stalking the next cycle of applicants ) but can think of a few things I've read that might be worth a try.

Niall Ferguson, Empire - good for a bit of controversial popular history, there's lots to engage with here and it's also set across a very broad timeframe and geographical scope.
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolutions (the first in the series, the other two would be good also) - not everyone's cup of tea due to the very focused Marxist economic analysis but presents some fascinating arguments.
Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy - very dense, but SO well written.
Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–39

That's such a broad period of interest I suppose it totally depends on what takes your fancy within it. Also, very generally speaking, for historiography I can't recommend Keith Jenkins' Re-thinking History enough. It's such an easy read at about 80-90 pages and really clarifies so many of the 'big questions' about the study of history whilst arguing from a post-modernist perspective. Probably one of the most helpful things I read when applying

[soyasauce]

i really wanna do history in uni but jeez havnt thought of what uni i wanna go to yet

[EloiseStar]

(Original post by soyasauce)
i really wanna do history in uni but jeez havnt thought of what uni i wanna go to yet

better get thinking then, ey!

[soyasauce]

(Original post by EloiseStar)
better get thinking then, ey!

yes i know i need to :/ ive got a rough idea where i might wanna go but havnt done much research :/ atm focused on getting january exams over nd done with

[Rachel08]

If any of you guys have questions about Nottingham (I'm a first year history student there) or any questions about being a history applicant in general, give me a shout

[EloiseStar]

(Original post by Rachel08)
If any of you guys have questions about Nottingham (I'm a first year history student there) or any questions about being a history applicant in general, give me a shout

Are the modules which you study varied?

[soindie]

Who else agrees that Bristol should offer a History & Politics course?

[Rachel08]

(Original post by EloiseStar)
Are the modules which you study varied?

Well, I'm on the single honours course which means in first year all my history modules are compulsory and I have to pick 40 credits of modules from other depts (this can be a bit of a pain depending on your interests but you can pick stuff from languages, all the cultures depts eg hispanic studies, philosophy, theology, economics, politics (v popular), english, classics so there's quite a good range unlesss you're picky like me XD)

This leaves me with these history modules:

1)Learning history-this is a weekly seminar, and more of a skills module. If I'm honest it's probably the module I least enjoy, but that's possibly because of the group I'm in.

The folowing three all have a weekly lecture, then a fortnightly seminar:
2)Introduction to the Medieval world:500-1500-basically an overview of the medieval period, largely focusing on Europe.

3)Reformation to Revolution:1500-1789-overview of the early modern period, focusing on Europe. This is my favourite module, currently writing an essay on the reformation and actually quite enjoying it

4)Roads to Modernity: 1789-1945-this is the one that most people say is their favourite and is a good one for those who enjoy political history and the wars.

(if you're joint honours, you have to do learning history, then you get to pick two of the others)

Basically they're trying to get everyone on an even(ish) footing given the vast differences between what everyone studied at A level. For example in our first learning history seminar we had to say what A level modules we'd done and no one had done any of the ones I'd done and vice versa.

This is so you can choose your second year modules properly. I'm so excited for second year. There's quite a range with medieval, early modern and modern and also more geographical range than I've seen at some other universities eg there's a couple of modules on Japanese history.

I've not really had a proper look at the layout of third year yet, but I know you get to do a special subject, where you go really in-depth on a topic.

[pink pineapple]

(Original post by Rachel08)
Well, I'm on the single honours course which means in first year all my history modules are compulsory and I have to pick 40 credits of modules from other depts (this can be a bit of a pain depending on your interests but you can pick stuff from languages, all the cultures depts eg hispanic studies, philosophy, theology, economics, politics (v popular), english, classics so there's quite a good range unlesss you're picky like me XD)

This leaves me with these history modules:

1)Learning history-this is a weekly seminar, and more of a skills module. If I'm honest it's probably the module I least enjoy, but that's possibly because of the group I'm in.

The folowing three all have a weekly lecture, then a fortnightly seminar:
2)Introduction to the Medieval world:500-1500-basically an overview of the medieval period, largely focusing on Europe.

3)Reformation to Revolution:1500-1789-overview of the early modern period, focusing on Europe. This is my favourite module, currently writing an essay on the reformation and actually quite enjoying it

4)Roads to Modernity: 1789-1945-this is the one that most people say is their favourite and is a good one for those who enjoy political history and the wars.

(if you're joint honours, you have to do learning history, then you get to pick two of the others)

Basically they're trying to get everyone on an even(ish) footing given the vast differences between what everyone studied at A level. For example in our first learning history seminar we had to say what A level modules we'd done and no one had done any of the ones I'd done and vice versa.

This is so you can choose your second year modules properly. I'm so excited for second year. There's quite a range with medieval, early modern and modern and also more geographical range than I've seen at some other universities eg there's a couple of modules on Japanese history.

I've not really had a proper look at the layout of third year yet, but I know you get to do a special subject, where you go really in-depth on a topic.

so, realistically how much work in a week do you get?

[Rachel08]

(Original post by pink pineapple)
so, realistically how much work in a week do you get?

Realistically it depends on how prepared you want to be, and whether you have an essay or presentation. I'd say that history seems more erratic in terms of work than a lot of other subjects. You have to read for each seminar-they give you a ridiculously long list of articles/sources but usually i only read 2 or 3 but that is quite time consuming as you need to make fairly good notes-I'd reckon 2-3 hours per seminar (they are fortnightly though). Most weeks you'll also have an essay or some sort of presentation to be working on which will take up most of your time. I had three presentations in the last week of term and literally just had to focus on them.

I'm sorry I can't really quantify it better, but it's very variable

[Kimiechi]

Has anyone started any history-related reading yet? I'm currently reading A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins. Although not especially detailed, its a good introduction to the general chronology of English History, much of which I haven't come across at school before. Its a good starting point, and from there I will look into specific topics which interest me. I've also started getting the BBC History magazine, which is really interesting.
I want to read about American History too, but on top of Short History, Hitler 1936-45 (reading for AS History) and the french novel i'm reading, I think I might wait a bit! :P

[brookie]

What are anyone opinions on the idea of a joint course, History and Psychology? Some people say they are two very different subjects for some reason I think other wise..

Also anyone have any good and interesting books on Modern History for me to read?

[Harry S Truman]

I'm a first year history student at Cambridge. Feel free to ask me about the Cambridge course in particular, or university applications in general. Just make sure you quote me so I know I've been summoned.

[will1571]

I've been considering applying for History at university however whilst my subject teacher are confident I can achieve 4 A's at AS (in History, Economics, English and Classics) I'm unsure about my GCSE's of 5a* 3a and 2b. Are there any universities that are particularly 'harsh' when it comes to GCSEs and would be best avoiding? If it helps I've been looking at Edinburgh, KCL, UCL and Sheffield in particular; although I'm not too sure about the London universities.

[Harry S Truman]

(Original post by will1571)
I've been considering applying for History at university however whilst my subject teacher are confident I can achieve 4 A's at AS (in History, Economics, English and Classics) I'm unsure about my GCSE's of 5a* 3a and 2b. Are there any universities that are particularly 'harsh' when it comes to GCSEs and would be best avoiding? If it helps I've been looking at Edinburgh, KCL, UCL and Sheffield in particular; although I'm not too sure about the London universities.

LSE and Durham are the only universities I've encountered which are seen as being overtly GCSE Nazi. I got into UCL (probably the most competitive on your list) and Cambridge with 4 A*s, 5 As, a C, and a D.

[SixteenHundred]

(Original post by Harry S Truman)
I'm a first year history student at Cambridge. Feel free to ask me about the Cambridge course in particular, or university applications in general. Just make sure you quote me so I know I've been summoned.

I'm a possible 2013 History applicant and I was wondering how I should pursue reading outside of the time period we're studying at A-level. I've read a lot which is relevant to the course which I'm not sure would count as reading outside the syllabus (it's the English/European Reformation so there's no shortage even in our school library) but how do I start to approach time periods of which my factual understanding is limited at best? A lack of context makes an argument pretty dry for me to read.

[pricey26]

(Original post by Rachel08)
If any of you guys have questions about Nottingham (I'm a first year history student there) or any questions about being a history applicant in general, give me a shout

Hi, I'm thinking of applying to history at nottingham. Can you give me a bit of info on what its like? I have a friend there who does Philosophy and she loves it; this has made me seriously consider nottingham. So, what modules can you do? Whats it like? And also, what was your offer?
Thanks

[Harry S Truman]

(Original post by SixteenHundred)
I'm a possible 2013 History applicant and I was wondering how I should pursue reading outside of the time period we're studying at A-level. I've read a lot which is relevant to the course which I'm not sure would count as reading outside the syllabus (it's the English/European Reformation so there's no shortage even in our school library) but how do I start to approach time periods of which my factual understanding is limited at best? A lack of context makes an argument pretty dry for me to read.

Firstly, reading widely about the topic you're studying is a very good thing. At an interview the subjects you're studying are likely to be the main talking points anyway, so showing a genuine enthusiasm for them, a commitment to learning about and immersing yourself in them, and having an above average depth of knowledge and insight will pay off.

As for starting new periods, just diving into the literature is probably the best option, unfortunately. Perhaps just identify works in the topic that are particularly inflammatory or central to the historiography and start with those, to overcome any dryness that may come from unfamiliarity. Ultimately, factual familiarity with a period will come from reading about it. If you really want some sort of framework to start off with, perhaps consult Wikipedia or a similar resource first, or maybe a school textbook - but certainly don't sink large portions of time consuming their content.

[SixteenHundred]

(Original post by Harry S Truman)
Firstly, reading widely about the topic you're studying is a very good thing. At an interview the subjects you're studying are likely to be the main talking points anyway, so showing a genuine enthusiasm for them, a commitment to learning about and immersing yourself in them, and having an above average depth of knowledge and insight will pay off.

As for starting new periods, just diving into the literature is probably the best option, unfortunately. Perhaps just identify works in the topic that are particularly inflammatory or central to the historiography and start with those, to overcome any dryness that may come from unfamiliarity. Ultimately, factual familiarity with a period will come from reading about it. If you really want some sort of framework to start off with, perhaps consult Wikipedia or a similar resource first, or maybe a school textbook - but certainly don't sink large portions of time consuming their content.

Thank you very much for this!