It may be that, eventually, all roads lead to Rome. For those of us in the West, that great civilization was, prior to the Renaissance, the last time the average citizen had access to culture, education, and something approaching human rights. But if this axiom is true of our culture, then a similar axiom must apply to our laws, that all roads of inquiry eventually return to Magna Carta. This great document, which came about as a result of the foolishness and profligacy of king John, not only bound the British king to the laws of the land, it enshrined into law and into the consciousness of the people the rights of individuals to stand up to the tyranny of the state. As such, it is considered to be a formative statement of the freedoms that all Westerners now enjoy.
Though 1215 is primarily Mr. Danziger's and Mr. Gillingham's delightful account of the lead-up to the signing of Magna Carta, it also does justice to king John's folly, the Plantagenet squabbles which caused the British throne to fall to him, and the wider historical backdrop of 13th century England. With pace and precision, they describe everything from how the document was written to the sociopolitical conditions which brought about its signing. In the process, the authors do not fail to inject the sense of awe that accompanies witnessing a surviving copy of the fairly plain document, two of which are housed at the British Library. There is so much detail here, all of which is satisfyingly packed into 300 engrossing pages.
This is a must-read for any fan of history. There's not a boring moment in the lot and that's an achievement indeed for a book which concerns itself with a time now so enshrouded in history that writer's ink came from the acid created when a wasp stings a tree. To bring alive such a time is a wonderful achievement. (5/5 Stars)
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