Review of The Gun, the Ship, and The Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World by Linda Colley

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ABSTRACT This review examines Linda Colley’s The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World (2021), which investigates the dynamic relationship between warfare and constitutionalism from the mid-18th to early 20th centuries. Colley contends that constitutions arose primarily as pragmatic responses to military demands rather than purely philosophical constructs. The review highlights the book’s strengths, including its analysis of constitutions as instruments of inclusion and exclusion, its exploration of revolutionary potential, and its examination of marginalized groups—such as those in Tunisia and Haiti—using constitutional frameworks to resist imperial domination. Colley’s richly illustrated narrative and interdisciplinary analysis offer valuable insights into the global dissemination of constitutionalism. Nevertheless, the review identifies limitations, including overgeneralizations in historical contexts and limited engagement with non-Western constitutional traditions. Despite these issues, the book significantly contributes to historical scholarship, offering a nuanced perspective on the interplay of power, resistance, and governance, while illuminating the legacies of warfare-driven constitutionalism in shaping the modern world.