This course traces English history from King James II to Prime Minister Tony Blair. It chronicles the rise and decline of one of the "greatest" nations in world history. Topics to be covered include the taming of the monarchy, the aristocracy's golden age, the Three Revolutions (American, Industrial, and French), popular radicalism and demands for democracy, the British Empire and imperialism, women's rights and suffrage, World Wars I and II, the rise of the Welfare State, and the nation's modern-day continuing crisis and declining place in world affairs. Politics forms a framework for the course, but we also will take into account literature, culture, religion, science, and other areas of the English experience.