The Gun, the Ship and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World

Review A virtuoso global study of how nations were formed and constitutions written upends the familiar narrative at every turn ... As with all great history books, the big picture is here, but so is the telling detail, the astute comparison, the arresting and memorable turn of phrase, the suggestive moral for our own times. ... A superb retelling of the past, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen will surely make us rethink our present and future -- Miles Taylor ― GuardianDazzling ... [The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen] abounds with subtle arguments grounded in expertly marshaled sources, generously acknowledged. But perhaps the book's most impressive aspect is its mobility ... The geographic sweep and legal complexities are daunting, but Colley makes them accessible by employing a human scale. [A] bold, packed account [and] a daring revisionist move. -- Jenny Uglow ― New York Review of BooksIncandescent, paradigm-shifting ... Colley has upended much of what historians believe about the origins of written constitutions ... If there were a Nobel Prize in History, Colley would be my nominee -- Jill Lepore ― New YorkerA global history of remarkable depth, imagination and insight -- Tony Barber ― FT Summer BooksA wide-ranging, beautifully written global history ... Colley's narrative is rich, and she emphasizes the colorful characters who have contributed to constitution-making projects around the world ... Fascinating -- Tom Ginsburg ― Washington PostFascinating ... Most historians emphasise literacy and liberty, seeing constitutions as the product of high-minded, slightly bloodless political salons. Colley's approach is more imaginative [with] plenty of memorably colourful details ... A different, surprising twist on international history -- Dominic Sandbrook ― Sunday TimesRarely is a history so satisfyingly broad in outlook while avoiding abstraction and generalisation. It is rich, enjoyable, enlightening and imaginative. Colley takes you on intellectual journeys you wouldn't think to take on your own, and when you arrive you wonder that you never did it before -- David Aaronovitch ― TimesWildly ambitious, prodigiously researched ... The narrative ranges widely and fascinatingly across continents and prominent historical figures ... A sweeping, unique, truly world-spanning political and military history ― Kirkus ReviewsA book of stupendous range and originality, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen delivers an ambitious new account of the making of the modern world. Linda Colley has an unparalleled ability to bring together the histories of ideas, politics, and people, and to distill prodigious learning into a narrative that is at once incisively argued and an immense pleasure to read. Rippling with fresh interpretations, startling connections, and remarkable stories, this is a masterpiece of global history by one of the greatest historians working today -- Maya Jasanoff, Harvard UniversityThe purest crystallization of modern politics is the written constitution. Despite its lofty ideals, the document's many guises across the world repeatedly failed to meet their stated aspirations. Remarkable therefore are our centuries of persistent belief in constitutions. With her characteristic skill, erudition, and creativity, Linda Colley, one of our greatest historians, explains this seeming conundrum through a history of the durability of human hope, war, and political imagination. This is a monumentally important book -- Alan Mikhail, author of ― God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern WorldA remarkable feat of scholarship on an international scale ... Impressive -- Jonathan Sumption ― SpectatorLinda Colley is a historian of her time; but she is also a completely original intelligence -- R. F. FosterIn this ambitious work, Linda Colley seeks to rethink the "long" nineteenth century through the prism of the many constitutions it produced. Written with characteristic vigor and clarity, her book shows the conti