Unit information: The American Century - How and When It Began: The United State and Great Britain in Transition, (Level I Special Field) in 2008/09

Unit name	The American Century - How and When It Began: The United State and Great Britain in Transition, (Level I Special Field)
Unit code	HIST26018
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Brian Miller
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit explores familiar territory in an unfamiliar way: Anglo-American relations in a period of transition from pax Britannia to pax Americana. Rivalry between the two countries was paramount in the 1920s, leading to near breakdown; while matters did not improve much with the Depression, the impositions of high tariffs and the failure of Anglo-American diplomatic initiatives against dictators. Differences over Anglo-American relations persisted after 1939, with the 'invasion' of Britain by two million American GIs from 1942 bringing a new dimension to 'Anglo-American relations'. At Teheran in 1943 Churchill begins to be shunted aside by Roosevelt and Stalin as one of the three leaders of the Grand Alliance, signalling a major geopolitical shift from this point. All these issues are explored, together with the contrasting impact of American popular culture on British life, through both the current research literature and a variety of primary sources.

Teaching Information

• 10 x 2- hour seminars

• 1 x 4,000-word essay

Assessment Information

1 x 2-hour exam

Reading and References

• Allen, H.C., Great Britain and the United States. A History of Anglo-American Relations 1783-1952 (London 1954)

• Dimbleby, D. & Reynolds D., An Ocean Apart: The Relationship Between Britain and America in the Twentieth Century (London, 1988)

• McKercher, B.J.C., Transition of Power: Britains Loss of Global Pre-eminence to the United States 1930-45 (Cambridge, 1999)

• Orde, A, The Eclipse of Great Britain (Basingstoke, 1996)

• Graves, R. & Hodge, A., The Long Weekend: A Social History of Great Britain 1918-1939 (London, 1940)

• Ovendale, R., Anglo-American Relations in the 20th Century (Basingstoke, 1998)

• Temperley, H., Britain and America Since Independence (Basingstoke, 2002)

• Tulloch, H., Six British Travellers in America 1919-1941 (Lewiston, NY, 2000)

• Turner, A., The Unique Relationship: Britain and the United States (New York, 1971).