For this richly illustrated volume Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, is joined by a range of leading experts on Magna Carta from across the world to reflect on the circumstances of its genesis and its enduring importance through subsequent centuries. Magna Carta was serially reinterpreted by later generations in contexts that were often far removed from the specific grievances of King John's barons. It became a totem in fierce political debates on the liberties of the people in the face of the tyranny of the king. As such, it became a sacred text for English Puritans of the Civil War, for the American patriots of the War of Independence, and for all those in the English-speaking world who have striven to build democratic rights and freedoms in the post-colonial age.

Author Biography

Nicholas Vincent is Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia and a leading authority on Magna Carta. In 2007 he wrote the catalogue for the New York sale of Ross Perot's 1297 Magna Carta (sold for $21.3 million). He has since acted as a consultant on Magna Carta to the National Archives in Washington and the Australian Senate. In 2012 he published the best-selling Very Short Introduction to Magna Carta (Oxford University Press). Professor Vincent is Director of the officially sponsored UK Magna Carta Project, established to scour the archives of England and France in search of unpublished materials and to explain the history and context of the document for its 800th anniversary in 2015. A Fellow of the British Academy, he has published a dozen books and some hundred academic articles on various aspects of English and European history.