The Gun, The Ship, The Pen

Linda Colley’s The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen reveal how the global spread of written constitutions since the mid-1700s was largely shaped by the pressures of large-scale hybrid warfare—not just revolutions. Faced with the immense costs of maintaining armies and navies, states pushed constitutional changes that granted political rights, like voting or citizenship, to men in exchange for military service or higher taxes. Colley draws on vivid examples from the American and French revolutions to the Ottoman Empire and Pacific islands. The book also highlights how print and literacy spread these ideas, even as citizenship rights often excluded women based on military eligibility.