Magna Carta : history, context and influence

This book examines the history and influence ofMagna Carta in British and American history.

In a series of essays written bynotable British specialists, it considers the origins of thedocument in the political and religious contexts of the thirteenth century,the relevance of its principles to the seventeenthcentury disputes that led to the Civil War, the uses made ofMagna Carta to justify the American Revolution, and its inspirationof the radical-democratic movement in Britain in the early nineteenth century. The introductory essay considers the celebration of MagnaCarta's 800th anniversary in 2015 in relation to ceremonials andremembrance in Britain in general.

Given as papers to a joint conferenceof British and Chinese historians in Beijing in 2015, these essays provide aclear and insightful overview of the origins and impact of a medieval documentthat has shaped the history of the world. The open access edition of this book can be found at http://humanities-digital-library.org/index.php/hdl/catalog/book/goldman.