General History, like British History, is studied in ‘outline’ papers, which are designed to introduce you to long-term developments in one of four distinct periods.  The papers naturally have a much wider geographical scope, covering the whole of European history in each period.  The approach to the papers therefore differs from that adopted for British History in being more thematic and comparative, requiring you to devote attention to the concepts which historians use to study developments across a number of societies simultaneously.  You will be expected to consider how we should use concepts such as ‘state’, ‘economy’, ‘social structure’, ‘culture’ and ‘nation’ in different periods and societies, and the ways in which they need to be refined to do justice to the constant variety evident in the history of Europe’s peoples.  Equally important will be the understanding of change in the past: when and whether it is appropriate to speak of ‘invasion’, ‘growth’, ‘reformation’ or ‘revolution’ are among the critical issues to be faced in these papers.

 

Each paper will be provided with a supporting lecture course, given in the form of a ‘circus’ involving a substantial number of tutors involved in teaching the courses. The two medieval General History papers have 16 lectures each (given twice weekly); General History III and IV are accompanied by 24 lectures each. The lectures for General History are intended to be more indicative of the structure and content of the papers than those for British History; and in many (though not all) colleges your tutorial programme will be related to that of the lectures.  But the basis of your tutorial essays will continue to be your own reading. Seven hours of tutorial teaching are provided for each General History paper. One hour of tutorial time is available for revision in the Trinity Term and may be used for British or General History.

 

Given the wide, comparative scope of these papers, the recommended reading is likely to combine introductory or survey works with a selection of more specialised articles and monographs.  You may find that there is pressure on the availability of the most popular introductory works; but on any topic the libraries will contain an enormous range of more specialized works which will exemplify and enable you to study the theme of your essay in specific, detailed circumstances.

 

General History is examined in a three-hour unseen paper.  The questions, to which you must complete three answers, will cover the period as a whole or a large part of it; Paper III (but not the others) requires answers to questions from separate sections.

• I: 370–900 (The Transformation of the Ancient World)
• II: 1000–1300 (Medieval Christendom and its neighbours)
• III: 1400–1650 (Renaissance, Recovery and Reform)
• IV: 1815–1914 (Society, Nation and Empire)

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