長くイギリス憲法の土台となると考えられてきたマグナカルタですが、その内容や背景を理解している人はほとんどいません。本書はこの公文書を現代の読者に紹介すべく、この1215年の大憲章のラテン語原典の英語訳を完全収録した上で、起源について解説するとともに、その歴史的役割を振り返ります。(cf. The British Constitution, #349)
   

• 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

 
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.