Even among monarchs like Russia’s Catherine the Great-who wrote and published the extensive Nakaz, or Grand Instruction, in 1767, modernizing the codes and laws of Russia-the era spawned countless paper documents that addressed complex matters of law, politics, and even literature and philosophy. Aside from the Magna Carta, signed in 1215, written documents delineating the rights and duties of “citizens” were rare until the Enlightenment, when literacy increased across Europe and philosophers such as Montesquieu popularized ideas of political liberty and separation of powers. In this wildly ambitious, prodigiously researched work, Princeton history professor Colley, a winner of the Wolfson History Prize, traces how the proliferation of written constitutions coalesced with the rise of hybrid warfare-land and sea-thus protecting the rights of those who were soldiering as well as those affected by violent invasions. A sprawling global history, beginning in the 1750s, showing the incalculable impact of the drafting of written constitutions.
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