GCSE and A Level History Audio Study Guides

The Early Tudors 1485-1558

The Early Tudors A Level History podcast series takes you through the OCR specification step by step. The series is produced by Nick Fellows, a lead examiner for OCR who has written many textbooks on The Tudors, Katie Fellows, who is currently studying for her DPhil in History at St Peter's College, Oxford, and Oxford historian, Dr Glyn Redworth, who is a specialist in early modern British & European history. In addition to the main series content Glyn also considers key words or concepts which will give our listeners a neat perspective on each area of study and help them to grasp issues clearly, simply and originally. As Glyn says: "What I like about Audiopi is that it is student-facing: it doesn't just want to help them master the syllabus, it wants to edge them that little bit further."

The Later Tudors 1547-1603

If one thing makes the later Tudors a fascinating topic to study it is that we are dealing with a crisis of monarchy. After the establishment of the dynasty by Henry Tudor and the iconic rule of his bloodthirsty son, Henry VIII, the reign of each of the last three Tudor rulers shows how potentially weak was their family´s grasp on power. The reign of the Edward VI was, in fact, to leave the country in the hands of a child, or rather the grasping noblemen who surrounded him. This was followed by the first female monarch in English history, Mary I, who threatened the independence of the kingdom by risking marriage with a foreign prince. Even the reign of Elizabeth was not without its risks, as the young queen struggled to impose her will on evangelical councillors who were determined that nothing should prevent the re-imposition of their brand of Protestantism. The rule of the later Tudors also witnessed the threat of both populist and aristocratic-inspired rebellions, but also various attempts to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Matching the threats at home from Catholics to her life and from Protestants to her political authority were the threats from overseas. Ireland rebelled against English colonialism, and Europe´s only superpower at the time, Spain, sent armada after armada in an attempt to unseat the queen and restore the Old Religion. Studying the later Tudors challenges students to think about what it was like to live at a time when religion threatened to push the country into civil war, or to consider what it must have been like to have been a female monarch in a wholly male-dominated society. Each pod for this course will introduce students to bigger questions about the period, at the same time as providing them with the detail needed for examination success. The series brings together once again Nick Fellows and Glyn Redworth.

Rebellion and Disorder in Tudor England 1485-1603

The reigns and personalities of the Tudor monarchs are well known, but this series of pods is largely about the struggles and concerns of ordinary people who are often hidden away from us because of an absence of sources. In many ways this is History as it should be, a study largely of those below the ruling elite and how the government responded to their protests. People who were so incensed by a sense of wrong that they risked the wrath of their monarch and possible to death to register their discontent. The series looks at the range of rebellions that hit the Tudors, from those that directly challenged their right to rule to the pathetic attempts of a small group of farm labourers to rise up because their local farming practices were under threat. Not only does it look at why they rose up, but it considers the nature of the risings, what if anything did they have in common? Did they change over the period, and if so why? It moves from nobles who were desperate to the ‘bare arsed’ rebels at the walls of Norwich. The second half of the series looks how a state, much less powerful than our own, contained, and ultimately defeated the unrest and asks whether the stability of the state was ever at risk. The series brings to together the formidable collective talents of Dr Glyn Redworth and Nick Fellows.

Early Stuarts and the origins of the Civil War 1603-1660

Surely one of the most dramatic periods in English history, the echoes from which are still heard today. Every year we celebrate Bonfire Night but on reflection the attempt to burn down Parliament was a minor moment from this period. Civil War, Regicide, the abolition of monarchy, the ascension of parliament, Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate, the Restoration.....this was not a quiet period of history! Helping you to make sense of it all is the formidable pairing of Dr Glyn Redworth, Oxford historian, and Nick Fellows, leading textbook writer and examiner.

From Pitt to Peel - Britain 1783-1853

From surely one of the most extraordinary British politicians in any era, William Pitt the Younger, to the man who introduced the police service, Robert Peel. The French revolution gets the period off to a start with a bang. Subsequently Britain fought a war with France against one of modern history's most notorious characters, Napoleon Bonaparte. The defining victories at the proudly remembered (from a British point of view) Trafalgar and Waterloo, gave the victors a great sense of national pride. And Britain was having it's own revolution, one which would lead to the establishment of the biggest empire the world has ever seen. The industrial revolution made Britain. It brought with it extraordinary opportunity and seismic change. Nick Fellows, Mike Wells and David Craig take you through the action and debate the key issues.

French Revolution and Rule of Napoleon 1774-1815

Mike Wells and one of the leading academics in the subject, Professor William Doyle, come together to exam a period in history which sent shock waves around the world, inspired millions, and still has the ability to send a shiver down the spine. Napoleon, once a great hero of European history , is now considered in a much more critical light. Our series on the French Revolution and Napoleon will fully follow and cover your curriculum and we hope, in addition, to give you extra inspiration and insight along the way. Professor William Doyle also delivers supporting Key Concepts.

American Revolution 1740-1796

The American Revolution saw Britain lose control of its prize colonial possessions across the Atlantic. A new nation emerged which would gradually make its mark on the world stage, although in its infancy there was certainly no indication of the power it would later attain. Here we will be examining the initial causes of Britain’s control of North America and how after the 7 Years’ War relations between the colonists and the British government began to decline. The causes of this breakdown and eventual confrontation will be examined, as will the war between Britain and the United States. We will examine why America was able to overcome their colonial masters, and how they forged their future once victory at Yorktown had been achieved. The initial years of the new Republic and the Presidency of Washington will be the focus of the final pods, as we examine what future lay in store for this new nation and how it managed the early threats to its existence. The series brings together Dr Ben Marsh of the University of Kent, and Head of History, Phil Lyons.

19c USA Westward expansion and Civil War 1803-1890

For all it was called the ‘United States of America’, the USA in the Nineteenth Century was in fact a country divided. The ‘perfect union’ announced in the preamble to the constitution was anything but. There were huge debates about what that union should look like and who even constituted the ‘people’ whom the constitution was there to serve. Although ‘liberty’ was apparently valued above all else, it seemed that the liberty of some could only be achieved by enslaving and excluding others. This series, which covers the years from 1803 to about 1890, will explore the growth and expansion of the United States and some of the tensions and contradictions it created. This series is designed to support students studying OCR History A, and it covers the four main key topics contained in the AS and A-Level specifications: Westward Expansion, its causes and impacts; Native Americans; The Growth of Sectional Tension in the years 1850 to 1861; and the Civil War of 1861 to 1865. It is written by Siobhan Dickens, an experienced History teacher and A-Level examiner, and renowned historian Professor Richard Carwadine of the University of Oxford, whose research centres on the United States between 1776 and the Civil War, with a particular focus on the life, presidency and legacy of Abraham Lincoln.

Civil Rights in the USA 1865 - 1992

Welcome to our series on US Civil Rights from 1865-1992. The USA has long been held as a nation which represents freedom, opportunity and democracy to the world. The Rights of Man and Statue of Liberty serve as symbols of these ideals. But do they reflect reality? Our period is bookended at one end by the end of the horrific Civil War, fought partially to end slavery, and at the other by the acquittal of policemen who beat Rodney King to death. What happened to African Americans in the intervening years? And to other groups who faced discrimination; women, workers and Native Americans. We explore all of these with the renowned historian of American history, Professor Tony Badger, and experienced examiners, Nick Fellows and Mike Wells.

Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919 - 1963

The horror of the Nazi regime that ruled Germany from 1933 until its defeat in the Second World War is well known, but this series looks at how the regime came into being following the failed attempt to establish democracy in Germany in the years after the First World War. It examines how Hitler, from the position of a weak Chancellor, was able to establish a dictatorship within just over a year of coming to power and the impact that this had on German people. The series then goes on to examine what had happened to Germany in the years after the war, why it was divided and why a stable democracy emerged and developed in the west, whilst another dictatorship, albeit a communist one, was established in the east. This series brings together Nick Fellows and Professor Matthew Stibbe. As with all our history A level series the core content is supported by Matthew's Key Concepts, which shine an academic light on events and help our listeners to understand what really mattered most.