H Kumarasingham
Power to the Printers
The Gun, the Ship and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern World
By Linda Colley
Profile 512pp £25
One of the many intriguing things about the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 was the way in which many of the misnamed ‘patriots’ who invaded the building tried to legitimise their alarming actions. Their cry was that they were only seeking to uphold the constitution by preventing Congress from certifying the presidential election result in Joe Biden’s favour. Donald Trump told his supporters prior to their march on the ‘temple’ of American democracy that it was their duty to ‘protect’ the constitution by stopping ‘the steal’. In a similar vein, during the Senate trial of Trump for his role in enflaming his supporters to march on the Capitol, the impeachment managers presenting the case against the former president evoked the defence of the constitution as their purpose.
That the American constitution was used in these various ways would come as no surprise to Linda Colley. Although her terrific new global history of constitutions, warfare and the making of the modern world was completed just before the events of 6 January, it anticipates many of the arguments and
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.
@tiffanyjenkins is not so sure:
Tiffany Jenkins - The Smartphone Pandemic
Tiffany Jenkins: The Smartphone Pandemic - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an...
literaryreview.co.uk
India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.
@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:
Owen Bennett-Jones - New Delhi Confidential
Owen Bennett-Jones: New Delhi Confidential - The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah
literaryreview.co.uk
Where is the world's newest narcostate and why is it thriving?
@AdamBrookesWord investigates Asia's meth mecca.
Adam Brookes - Meth Comes to Myanmar
Adam Brookes: Meth Comes to Myanmar - Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Outwitted the CIA by Patrick Winn
literaryreview.co.uk