Constitutions are often thought of as the agents of change for monarchies and empires, usually it spells doom for them. But the history of constitutions is far more complicated than a revolutionary tool, in fact some of them were penned by monarchs themselves.
Linda Colley is a professor of history at Princeton University. Her latest book, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World is a deep dive into some of the most notable constitutions, how they came to be, and the impacts they have in today’s world.
Linda and Greg discuss how constitutions often borrowed and plagiarized constitutions before them, how the purpose of the documents has evolved over time, and how a constitution-less Britain still influenced so many other constitutions.
*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*