After the American and French Revolutions, new-style written constitutions came progressively to be viewed as  an  essential symbol and component of a modern state. Britain however both fiercely resisted these revolutions at the time, and has also retained its un-codified constitution throughout. Despite this, Britain's  impact on the writing of constitutions in other countries - both in and outside its former empire - has been more extensive and more varied than that of any other power. In this lecture, Linda Colley explores this apparent paradox, and what it reveals about global and British history and the meanings of post-1776 constitutional design

 

Linda Colley is the author of several tremendously influential books including "Captives: Britain, Empire and the World 1600–1850" and the prize-winning “Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837, published in 1992. This book has had a significant impact on the study of nationalism and, a decade after it first appeared, it continues to shape the debate about the evolution of Britishness. In 2007 she published "The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in World History” which was listed by the "New York Times" as one of the ten best books of the year.

 

In 1978 Linda became the first woman Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge before accepting a post at Yale University in 1982. In 1992 she was appointed Richard M. Colgate Professor of History and Academic Director of the Lewis Walpole Library. In 1998 she moved to the London School of Economics as a Senior Leverhulme Research Professor and Professor of History. In 2003, she became Linda Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University.