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Special Subject: Britain and the Second World War (V1346)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn and spring teaching

This module concentrates on the impact of the Second World War on social, cultural, economic and political relations in Britain 1938-45. The extent to which the war had a profound impact on British society is the subject of vigorous debate among historians in secondary literature. A complicated historiography exists for many of the topics included in this module, and the reasons for this changing interpretation of the past will be explored.

The topics covered by this module include:

• 1930s appeasement
• civil defence and preparation for war
• civilian evacuation
• the Blitz
• the fall of Chamberlain and the Churchill coalition government
• Dunkirk evacuation
• war economy
• rationing
• agriculture
• women in factories and auxiliary services
• combatants' experience
• D-Day landings
• American service personnel in Britain
• Beveridge report and the post-war welfare state
• the General Election of 1945.

The emphasis of 'Special Subjects' is to examine a particular period in detail using primary sources and subsequent monographs and articles.

Primary sources include: Parliamentary Papers, government publications, contemporary social investigation and comment, contemporaneous essays and monographs, oral historical accounts, memoirs and diaries, films, paintings, poems, photographs, etc. Subsequent analysis focuses on secondary sources, in the form of books and articles.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 48 hours of contact time and about 252 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.