The Gun, the Ship and the Pen cover art

The Gun, the Ship and the Pen

Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World

 Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Gun, the Ship and the Pen

By: Linda Colley
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Starting not with the United States but with the Corsican constitution of 1755, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen moves through every continent, disrupting accepted narratives. Both monarchs and radicals play a role, from Catherine the Great of Russia, with her remarkable Nakaz, to Sierra Leone's James Africanus Horton, to Tunisia's Khayr-al-Din, a creator of the first modern Islamic constitution. Throughout, Colley demonstrates how constitutions evolved in tandem with warfare, and how they have functioned to advance empire as well as promote nations, and worked to exclude as well as liberate.

Whether reinterpreting Japan's momentous 1889 constitution, or exploring the significance of the first constitution to enfranchise all adult women on Pitcairn Island in the Pacific in 1838, this is one of the most original global histories in decades.

©2020 Linda Colley (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK Military Political Science Imperialism United States
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The City-State of Boston cover art
The Case for Nationalism cover art
Devil-Land cover art
Capital in the Twenty-First Century cover art
A World Divided cover art
The French Revolution cover art
Why Nations Fail cover art
The History of Rome, Book 1 cover art
Understanding Power cover art
Collapse cover art
The Ukrainians (Fifth Edition) cover art
Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize) cover art
Central Asia cover art
The Invention of China cover art
A Concise History of the United States of America cover art
The Invention of Sicily cover art

Critic reviews

"If there were a Nobel Prize in history, Colley would be my nominee." (Jill Lepore, New Yorker)

"One of the most exciting historians of her generation, but also one of the most interesting writers of nonfiction around." (William Dalrymple, Guardian)

"A global history of remarkable depth, imagination and insight." (Tony Barber, Financial Times Summer Books)

What listeners say about The Gun, the Ship and the Pen

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Suke

Great listen!

Gripping history from 1750 to the present day (although more of the nineteenth century than twentieth). Well worth reading.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!