Book description
On 15 June 1215, rebel barons forced King John to meet them at
Runnymede. They did not trust the King, so he was not allowed to leave
until his seal was attached to the charter in front of him.
This was Magna Carta. It was a revolutionary document. Never before had
royal authority been so fundamentally challenged. Nearly 800 years
later, two of the charter's sixty-three clauses are still a ringing
expression of freedom for mankind: 'To no one will we sell, to no one
will we deny or delay right or justice'. And: 'No free man shall be
taken or imprisoned or in any way ruined, except by the lawful judgement
of his peers or by the law of the land'.
1215 - The Year of Magna Carta explores what it was like to be alive in
that momentous year. Political power struggles are interwoven with other
issues - fashion, food, education, medicine, religion, sex. In many
areas it was a time of innovation and change. Windmills were erected,
spectacles were invented. Dozens of new towns were founded. Oxford
became the first university in England, and the great cathedrals of
Salisbury and Lincoln were built.
Whether describing matters of state or domestic life, this is a
treasure house of a book, rich in detail and full of enthralling
insights into the medieval world. Danny Danziger has written 11 books
on a range of diverse subjects. His last title for Little, Brown -THE
YEAR 1000 - went to number one and stayed on the bestseller list for
seven months. Danny has a weekly interview column in the Sunday Times,
Best of Times, Worst of Times, which over 12 years has won many
accolades and awards.
