This course is aimed at beginners. Its successful completion is required for all students who plan to attend other courses in ‘Landeswissenschaften’. The purpose of the course is to introduce you to the basics of British and American history. The history portrayed here is one of continued British and US-American imperial dominance and economic, cultural and political influence on the world since the late 18th century. The lectures are centered on the overlapping history of the ascent and partial decline of two imperial powers, taking into account recent historiography on the Atlantic world, the British empire and American imperialism as well as the transatlantic relations. The time period covered by the lectures extends from the first colonial endeavors of the British monarchy and the very beginnings of the country’s imperial engagement in the 17th century to the 20th centur