This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
The module will examine aspects of the British Home Front during the Great War, focussing on the higher direction of the war and political developments; the creation of a 'nation in arms' and responses to war; war and the growth of the state, industrial and agricultural mobilisation and their implications; the experience of labour and of women; changes in social values and leisure; the development of state welfare; the management of morale; the treatment of aliens and ‘the enemy within’; commemoration and popular memory. Overall, it will provide a comprehensive study of the nation at war.
Total contact hours: 24
Private study hours: 276
Total study hours: 300
Main assessment methods:
Essay 6,000 words 80%
Two Oral Presentations 15 minutes 10% each
Reassessment methods:
Reassessment Instrument: 100% coursework
Indicative Reading List:
Ian F W Beckett, Home Front, 1914-18 (National Archives, 2006)
Ian F W Beckett, The Great War (2nd edn, Pearson, 2007)
Ian F W Beckett, The First World War: The Essential Guide to Sources in the UK National Archives (Public Record Office, 2002)
Stephen Constantine, Maurice Kirby and Mary Rose (eds), The First World War in British History (Edward Arnold, 1995)
Matthew Cragoe and Chris Williams (eds), Wales and War (University of Wales Press, 2007)
Susan Grayzel, Women and the First World War (Pearson, 2002)
Adrian Gregory, The Last Great War: British Society and the First World War (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
Gerard de Groot, Blighty: British Society in the Era of the Great War (Longman, 1996)
Keith Jeffery, Ireland and the Great War (Cambridge University Press, 2000)
Catriona Macdonald and Elaine McFarland (eds), Scotland and the Great War (Tuckwell Press, 1999)
Catriona Pennell, A Kingdom United: Popular Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War in Britain and Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2012)
George Robb, British Culture and the First World War (Macmillan, 2002)
Alan Simmonds, Britain and World War One (Routledge, 2012)
John Turner, British Politics and the Great War (Yale University Press, 1992)
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Have a wide knowledge of key aspects of British history between 1914 and 1918;
2 Have understood the impact of war upon states, societies, institutions and individuals;
3 Have further developed their skills in the critical analysis of historical sources;
4 Have the opportunity to undertake research in a variety of archival repositories; and
5 Have developed an understanding of the application and use of local histories in the public arena through engaging with work on public history.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Marshal information effectively;
2 Challenge received conclusions and to cultivate a broader epistemological awareness;
3 Enhance their proficiency with regard to improving their own learning and performance;
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