History explains and interprets, though it does not aim to justify the past. It may help us to understand the age in which we live, though the past should never be studied simply for that purpose. The History Department has consistently achieved the highest ratings in the national Teaching Quality Assessment and in the Research Assessment Exercise. It teaches the whole of British and European History from ancient Greece to the post-war world.
Special strengths lie in medieval and British imperial history.
In their second and third years, undergraduates have access to the vast number of history courses taught on an intercollegiate basis across the University of London. Such teaching methods are becoming much less common elsewhere. The syllabus is also distinctive, half of it comprising broad courses which span long chronological periods. The 'Clio' society is an historical society run by undergraduates of the Department. No single paper is compulsory thereafter.