This course will cover some of the major British authors from the 19th to 21st centuries. We will discuss the shifting political contexts for each time period as well as the impact of the British Empire on an ever-evolving sense of "Britishness." In this class, we will spend more time on 20th century contemporary politics and literature, particularly black British authors. We will also focus on women's rights, immigration, abolition, and citizenship issues. The text we will use is The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Volume B – Third Edition.