I would not recommend any course taught by Vinay Lal. His lectures cover interesting material, but it is very easy to get lost since he does not slow down or attempt to engage with the students.

The worst part of having taken his class is his grader. He had a graduate student named Brandon who wrote crazy illegible notes over everyone's papers with absolutely no constructive or positive feedback. I'm about to graduate UCLA with several honors and an overall GPA of 3.95. I made an A- in this class and that was with completing an extra credit essay to increase my final grade by 1/3 of a letter grade.

This grading is unfair and unrealistic. I read every novel, every journal that consisted of 100+ pages every week and attended every single lecture. Part of the final grade was to include 20% for attendance, yet he did not take roll. My grade did not increase and several other students who never missed class did not have a higher grade for doing the extra essay or having perfect attendance.

The history department has much better classes with great professors and TA's without a grind to axe. Choose wisely.