Research interests within History are extremely wide-ranging and include medieval culture, religion, gender, and law; historical theory; early modern witchcraft and the occult; the Italian Renaissance; North America from the colonial era; intellectual history from Machiavelli to Marx; genocide; Nazi and post-war Germany; Russia and the Soviet Union; the Cold War; and political, social, and cultural aspects of the history of China, Japan, Africa, India, Latin America and the Caribbean in the modern era.

In particular, University of Edinburgh host expertise in:

Pre-modern and early-modern history: their research interests lie in the social, political, religious and cultural history of Europe – from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance, with particular emphasis on England, France and Italy.
Modern British and Irish history: they have particular interests in early modern religion, belief and intellectual history (including the Scottish Enlightenment); social, economic and political history; relations between Britain and Ireland; Second World War Studies; and international relations.
Modern European history: specialisms include 18th-century political and intellectual history; genocide; France; Germany; Russia and the Soviet Union; and Spain.
American history: the expertise includes revolutionary and early national America; the Civil War; US diplomatic history in the 19th and 20th centuries; politics in the 20th century; African-American history and the civil rights movement.