This course provides an essential grounding in modern intellectual history and political thought. It introduces students to the most important kinds of methodology practised in the field of intellectual history since the twentieth century, and some of the most influential thinkers and themes in the history of political thought since antiquity. It is divided into two parts, corresponding to semesters one and two respectively. The first part covers the main approaches in the history of ideas in Anglo-American and European scholarship and a selection of key concepts and themes. The second part involves in-depth exploration of the thought of a selection of major authors and thematic concerns in the history of political thought.