A brief introduction to the context and history of one of the most significant constitutional texts in world history

Looks at how and why Magna Carta is still hugely significant today

Discusses Magna Carta in relation to issues of law and politics, and also to human rights

Includes a full English translation of the 1215 Magna Carta

Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over five million copies sold worldwide

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 Very Short Introduction 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 thereafter as a totemic symbol of the subject's right to protection against the raw and absolute authority of the sovereign.

Drawing upon 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.

Readership: General readers interested in the charter and its history, and also students of history, law and politics.