It is undeniable that there are a number of ways of taking A level history students up a grade; but here is just one approach, which can be used alongside any others that you choose.
Many students often feel daunted by using primary sources, tend to overlook them, and, when pushed towards them, use them superficially.
And yet A level coursework units require students to refer to primary sources, and marking schemes give credit to students who show independence in selecting their material.
To overcome this problem, Primary Sources in Russian History 1801-1917 has selected a wide range of materials which are the most accessible for students taking A level history. In it is also true to say that some of this material will also be relevant for GCSE students study this period.
Some of the sources are little more than a line in length while others extend to two ore more pages. Of course, the students will find some of the sources a little difficult to understand – but that is surely part of the historian’s training. Research in understanding a primary source (as well as actually referring to it) is very much part of history.
Each subject area comes with a historical overview, and the sources are followed by questions for the students to answer. There are also some model answers which are meant as a guide for students and a cross-referenced analysis of themes linking each individual source to the prime topics of:
- Autocracy
- Repression
- The west
- Modernisation
- Opposition
- Reform
- Society
- The role of the individual
- The peasantry
- Revolution
The book covers the reigns of Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III, and Nicholas II.
What’s more, the materials are available as a photocopiable book and as a CD which can be put onto the school’s network and shared among all students for whom it is relevant. Thus all students may use the material with the purchase of just one copy.
ISBN No: 978 1 86083 769 2 Order code: T1762EMN
Sample pages are available to download free of charge from http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/history/T1762.pdf
- Photocopiable book: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
- CD: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
- CD plus photocopiable book: £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
You can order… Please quote the order code T1762EMN
- By post: Write to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Rd., Corby, Northants NN17 4HH
- By fax: To 01536 399 012
- By phone: quoting a credit card number or a school order reference number: 01536 399 018
- On line: Go to http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=738 – you will need a credit card to complete the order