thoroughly absorbing. so much learned. so much context. history repeats itself too.

Concur with other reviews.

Wonderfully smart lecture series, will be of interest to anyone interested in UK or (to a lesser extent) US history. Doesn’t really cover the US but the events described were very important to the founding of the US.

Wrightson’s lectures present a fluency with the history of early modern England that can only come from decades of study and expertise. Well organized, coherent, and fascinating in both detail in scope, these lectures are an exemplary introduction to the period. Highly recommended.

Professor Wrightson is an excellent lecturer. The course material is well organized and presented, and the audio is clear. It's not strictly chronological. He will discuss a certain period of history from several angles before moving on to later periods. This might take a bit of getting used to, but in the end, I can see why he did it this way: the subject matter is so multifacted, you would miss many important points if it were strictly chronological. As for the subject matter, I must say it filled in some very important gaps in my knowledge of *American* history. Anyone who has gone through American schooling gets the American history lessons drilled into them, and not much of the view from across the pond. This course gives hints into the origins of the American form of government, as you watch the English "muddling through" the changing of government from one dominated by the king to one shared with a parliament even stronger than the king. The audio is completely adequate, however, you won't get to see the professor don a Henry VIII mask at the very end and play a tyrant! Very enjoyable course.

Well crafted, nicely paced, and easy to listen to. A wonderful resource I would recommend to anyone.

The witchcraft talk is spiritual unhelpful, inaccurate from a Christian view

Prof. Wrightson is an excellent and engaging lecturer. He strikes a good balance between political and cultural history. I wish I had access to some of the handouts he refers to, but they are not necessary to follow the lectures. I wish the course also came with a bibliography, because he keeps saying "I can recommend some reading if you are interested in this topic" and I am not there to ask!

Well, it's only "fun" if you are far enough away not to have to worry about your head! I developed an interest in this period because I started a reading jag on the Tudors. Philippa Gregory's novels got me started, then I picked up Allison Weir, then CJ Sansom, then Hilary Mantel. What struck me about this period was the deadly struggle over religion. What also struck me was the sense that American political and social history simply spins off from this era, and that we were the beneficiaries of some extremely hard-fought battles for religious liberty and freedom of expression. These lectures are well-organized, thoughtful, easy to follow, and combine social, economic, and political analyses. For me, this course came at the exact time when I was most interested, and had dozens of unanswered questions. If one comes to it without a strong interest, it may seem a bit remote. But read a few well-researched works of fiction about this era, and you will be hooked!

In depth lectures on period without frequent back ground interruptions from class.

Great lectures very understandable & pleasant to listen to.

I'm in my third year of EFM (Education for Ministry) in which we study the history of the Episcopal Church. This course provided a comprehensive political, cultural, and economic context for that study. Production value is excellent. Highly recommended.

The content is well balanced between big events/personalities and social/economic history. The lectures are organized and highly coherent. You do not need to have read the course materials to follow them. I've given up on a few iTunes U courses that constantly alluded to specifics of obscure course readings, grades, assignments, etc. That info is interesting to enrolled students, but not to me. Either these lectures are edited to keep that to a minimum, or enrolled students get it from other sources since it's a very small part of the online course and limited mainly to the opening lecture. Also, there is none of the paper rustling, complaints about the projector not working, etc., stuff that makes some courses less than stellar for me.

THis is the best lecture I have listened to. Prof. Wrightson has organized his material very well, includes many fascinating glimpses into this period and has a sense of humor. This course is very informative for understanding how our political system in the US has evolved. He is a great story teller making history so vivid.

I very much enjoyed listing to this series of lectures. I am a history buff to begin with and I always like to learn more. Professor Wrightson lecture style is easy to follow and enjoyable. I may even listen to the series again at some point.

What a wonderful resource. Thank you for making this available on itunes.