Patrick N. Allitt Audio

What defines an American? Is it the love of liberty, the pursuit of justice, the urge to invent, the desire for wealth, the drive to explore, the quest for spiritual values?

This course explores the particularly rich history of religion in the U.S.

Teaching is more than a job. It's a responsibility—one of the greatest responsibilities in civilized society. Teachers lay bare the mysteries of the world to us. They train our minds to explore, to question, to investigate, to discover.

Preserving the traditions and values of the past and applying them to the future—this is the core of the Conservative attitude. While the development of Conservatism has followed different arcs in the United States and Great Britain, this rich and fascinating political tradition has decisively impacted the evolution of both nations and their grand political institutions.

This 84-lecture series features three top professors sharing insights into this nation’s past, from European settlement and Revolutionary War through Civil War, 19th-century industrialization, world wars, and today.

In the 36 lectures of The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, popular Great Courses Professor Patrick N. Allitt leads you through four centuries of British power, innovation, and diminishment.

After her 1837 accession to the throne as a teenager, Queen Victoria’s realm was a time of great change.