Magna Carta

A beautifully produced account of the signing, impact and legacy of Magna Carta, a document that became one of the most influential statements in the history of democracy, as part of the stunning landmark library series.
On a summer's day in 1215 a beleaguered English monarch met a group of disgruntled barons in a meadow by the river Thames named Runnymede. Beset by foreign crisis and domestic rebellion, King John was fast running out of options. On 15 June he reluctantly agreed to fix his regal seal to a document that would change the world.
A milestone in the development of constitutional politics and the rule of law, the 'Great Charter' established an Englishman's right to Habeas Corpus and set limits to the exercise of royal power. For the first time a group of subjects had forced an English king to agree to a document that limited his powers by law and protected their rights.
Dan Jones's elegant and authoritative narrative of the making and legacy of Magna Carta is amplified by profiles of the barons who secured it and a full text of the charter in both Latin and English.

Dan Jones is a bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist. His non-fiction books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide, include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Plantagenets, The Templars, Powers and Thrones and Henry V. His fiction includes the acclaimed Essex Dogs trilogy, set during the Hundred Years War, which concludes with the 'salty, action-packed saga' Lion Hearts.
Dan has written and presented numerous TV series including Secrets of Great British Castles, Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets and London: 2000 Years of History. He has also appeared in programmes for the BBC, Channel 4, Sky Atlantic and History, and hosts the podcast This is History. For a decade Dan was a weekly columnist for the Evening Standard; he has also contributed to The Times, Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, GQ, The Spectator, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine, History Today, Tatler and Literary Review. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.