Patrick N. Allitt Audio & Video

Our understanding of the American West has moved far beyond pop culture in recent years.

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.

From electric lights to automobiles to the appliances that make our lives easier at work and at home, we owe so much of our world to the Industrial Revolution.

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 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.

How did Prince Albert, an obscure German prince, leave an indelible mark on the British monarchy?

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.

Whether you are searching for the past or want to better understand the world as it is today, travel - even virtually, from the comfort of home - offers a unique opportunity to see the world in new ways.

History is filled with surprises, not the least of which, was the very idea of America.

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