Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
Module Title
The British Isles in the Long Eighteenth Century
Academic Year
Intended for use in future years
Other Staff

Course Delivery



Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 1 x 2,500 word essay  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the history of the ‘British’ Isles over a long historical period.

Demonstrate an understanding of the utility of comparative perspectives relating to eighteenth century ‘British’ society.

Demonstrate an understanding of the differences between Britain’s component parts and the tensions between them.

Demonstrate an understanding of key themes in the historiography of eighteenth century Britain in broad compass.


This module will provide students with an overview of the history of the British Isles during the period known to historians as the long eighteenth century. It will offer a broad perspective on the history of the British Isles, and the relations between its constituent countries, and explore major themes and developments over a comparatively long sweep of history.

Brief description

This survey will offer students a political, social and cultural history of the British Isles in the long eighteenth century, focusing upon the making of the British nation. Students will also study Britain's component parts and tensions between them. The key political points of crises like the Jacobite rebellion, the impact of the American War of Independence and the French Revolution and the Irish revolt of 1798 will be examined. Students will also explore the culture developments in the period, such as the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The eighteenth century saw Britain become the world's first industrial nation, and in this light students will examine the nature of urban and rural life, the growth of the British working class, and the development of the middling sorts. Finally, this module will place Britain within the eighteenth-century Atlantic world, looking in particular at imperial problems and the campaign to abolish slavery.


1. Introduction: Restoration and Glorious Revolution
2. The Scottish Union and Jacobitism
3. Rural Life
4. Urban Life
5. The Religious Revival in England and Wales
6. Touring the British Isles
7. The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland
8. Britain and the Enlightenment
9. The British Isles and the American War of Independence
10. Crime and Punishment
11. Popular Culture
12. The Making of the British Working Class
13. The Middling Sorts
14. Britain and the Atlantic World
15. Britain and the French Revolution
16. Iolo Morganwg and the Forging of the Welsh Nation
17. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the Act of Union
18. The Romantic Tradition in the British Isles

Seminars (2 from:)
1. Enlightenment
2. Revolution
3. Romanticism
4. The polite and impolite eighteenth century

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number N/A
Subject Specific Skills An ability to identify and analyze primary sources relating to the ‘British’ Isles in the long eighteenth century.


This module is at CQFW Level 5