Advanced Topics
- Regional Modern Histories
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Regional Modern Histories
This track contains separate modules for Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the United States.
You do not need to study every region. Pick 1–3 regions that interest you most (or that seem most relevant to your goals — for example, the history of your own region, regions connected to current events, or areas you want to understand better). -
Thematic and Analytical Modern History
This track contains focused modules on major forces that shaped the modern world: empire & colonialism, war & revolution, society & culture, economy & environment.
Again, you do not need to read every theme. Choose 2–4 themes that excite you or help you make sense of the topics you care about.
You can move back and forth between regional and thematic sections as needed — they reinforce each other. For example, reading about colonialism (Section IV) becomes much clearer after you have studied modern Africa or Asia (Section III).
Regional Modern Histories
Europe
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Europe | Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire (related in series) | Yale HIST 202: European Civilization, 1648-1945 |
Asia
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern East & South Asia | Prasenjit Duara et al., A Companion to Global Historical Thought (Asia sections) (publisher preview/info; limited free access) | LSE: The Making of the Modern World (related resources) |
Africa
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Africa | Frederick Cooper, Africa in the World (open essays) (Harvard UP preview/open access excerpts) |
Latin America
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Latin America | John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire (Archive.org) | MIT OCW: Modern Latin America (related; note: specific course may vary – use for contextual modern history) |
United States
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. in Global Context | Irwin Unger, These United States (Open Library preview) | Yale HIST 116: The American Revolution (closely related global context) |
Thematic and Analytical Modern History
Empire, Colonialism, Decolonization
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Imperialism | Jürgen Osterhammel, Colonialism (Archive.org) | |
| Decolonization | Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth |
War, Revolution, Ideology
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Revolutions | Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution | |
| World Wars | Gerhard Weinberg, A World at Arms (publisher preview) | Yale HIST 210: The Early Middle Ages? (note: closest match; World Wars coverage varies) |
| Cold War | Westad, The Global Cold War |
Society and Culture
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Gender History | Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (contextual reading) | |
| Race and Class | W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk | |
| Cultural Modernity | Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts into Air |
Economy and Environment
| Subject | Book | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Capitalism & Industrialization | Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital | |
| Global Inequality | Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality (Harvard UP preview) | |
| Environmental History | J.R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun (publisher info/preview) |