Hocbigg - Modern History
Contents
Summary
The Modern History curriculum is a complete education in Modern History (primarily from c. 1750 to the present) using online materials.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
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Curriculum
- Historical Method and Historiography
- Global Chronological Foundations c. 1750–Present
- The Twentieth Century: Wars, Ideologies, and Global Shifts c. 1914–1991
- Late Modern & Contemporary History
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
Complete these sections in the following sequence:
Historical Method and Historiography: Start here. This section teaches you how historians think, read sources, and build arguments. It is the foundation for everything else.
Global Chronological Foundations (c. 1750–Present): Next, get the big-picture timeline and major global transformations of the modern era. This gives you the overall framework you will refer to throughout the rest of your studies.
The Twentieth Century: Wars, Ideologies, and Global Shifts (c. 1914–1991): Covers the era of world wars, revolutions, decolonization, and Cold War – essential bridge to the contemporary world.
Late Modern & Contemporary History: Finish the core by bringing the story up to the very recent past and the world we live in today. This section ties the earlier periods together and helps you see long-term patterns.
Historical Method and Historiography
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| The Craft of History | Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft | |
| Historical Thinking and Evidence | John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (Archive.org) | |
| Historiography | E.H. Carr, What Is History? |
Global Chronological Foundations (c. 1750–Present)
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern World History Survey | Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History | Coursera: The Modern World, Part One: Global History from 1760 to 1910; Part Two: 1910–Present – free to audit |
| The Long Nineteenth Century | Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution (supplementary) |
The Twentieth Century: Wars, Ideologies, and Global Shifts (c. 1914–1991)
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Global Twentieth Century Overview | Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History (relevant chapters) | Coursera Modern World Part Two (above) |
Late Modern & Contemporary History
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Post-1945 World | Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 | |
| Contemporary Global History | Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War (and post-Cold War chapters if available); supplement with recent chapters in Lowe |