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Preliminary Examination in History

A

The subjects of the examination, the syllabus, and the number of papers shall be as prescribed by regulation from time to time by the Board of the Faculty of History.

B

Each candidate shall offer four papers, as follows:

  • 1. History of the British Isles: any one of the following periods:.

    (I) c.300-1087; (II) 1042-1330; (III) 1330-1550; (IV) 1500-1700; (V) 1685-1830; (VI) 1815-1924; (VII) since 1900.

  • 2. General History: any one of the period papers I: 370-900 (The Transformation of the Ancient World), II: 1000-1300 (Medieval Christendom and its neighbours), III: 1400-1650 (Renaissance, Recovery, and Reform), and IV: 1815-1914 (Society, Nation, and Empire). Candidates will be given a wide choice of questions relating to themes in the history of the period and they are advised not to concentrate narrowly on a particular period or topic.

  • 3. Optional Subject: any one of an approved list of subjects, examples of which are given below. A detailed list of Optional Subjects, including the prescribed texts, will be published in the Handbook for Preliminary Examination in History by the Board of the Faculty of History by Monday of noughth week of Michaelmas Term each year for the academic year ahead. Depending on the availability of teaching resources, with the exception of Optional Subject 1, not all the Optional Subjects listed in the Handbook will be available to all candidates in any given year. Candidates may obtain details of the choice of options for that year by consulting the Definitive List of Optional Subjects posted at the beginning of the first week of Michaelmas Full Term in the History Faculty and circulated to History Tutors.

    • 1. Theories of the State (Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx).

    • 2. The Age of Bede c. 660-c.740.

    • 3. Early Gothic France c. 1100-c.1150.

    • 4. Conquest and Frontiers: England and the Celtic Peoples 1150-1220.

    • 5. English Chivalry and the French War c. 1330-c.1400.

    • 6. Nature and Art in the Renaissance.

    • 7. Witch-craft and witch-hunting in early modern Europe.

    • 8. Nobility and Gentry in England 1560-1660.

    • 9. Conquest and Colonization: Spain and America in the Sixteenth Century.

    • 10. Revolution and Empire in France 1789-1815.

    • 11. Women, Gender and the Nation: Britain, 1789-1825.

    • 12. The Romance of the People: The Folk Revival from 1760 to 1914.

    • 13. The American Empire: 1823-1904.

    • 14. The Rise and Crises of European Socialisms: 1881-1921.

    • 15. Theories of War and Peace in Europe 1890-1914.

    • 16. Working-Class Life and Industrial Work in Britain 1870-1914.

    • 17. The World of Homer and Hesiod, as specified for Preliminary Examination in Ancient and Modern History.

    • 18. Augustan Rome, as specified for Preliminary Examination in Ancient and Modern History.

  • 4. Either (a) Approaches to History or (b) Historiography: Tacitus to Weber or (c) Foreign Texts or (d) Quantification in History, as specified in the Handbook for the Preliminary Examination in History.

Candidates who fail one or more of papers 1, 2, 3, or 4 above may resit that subject or subjects at a subsequent examination.