Publisher synopsis

The Magna Carta has long been considered the foundation stone of the British Constitution, yet few people today understand either its contents or its context. This book, in the Very Short Introduction series from OUP introduces the document to a modern audience, explaining its origins in the troubled reign of King John, and tracing the significance of the role that it played in the centuries that followed as a totemic symbol of the subject's right to protection against the  absolute authority of the sovereign. Drawing on the great advances that have been made in the past two decades in our understanding of thirteenth-century English history, Nicholas Vincent demonstrates why the Magna Carta continues to be of enormous popular interest today.