Magna Carta and its Modern Legacy

James Melton editor Robert Hazell editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:30th Apr '15

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Magna Carta and its Modern Legacy cover

In this book top scholars analyse the historic and contemporary influence of Magna Carta, challenging its common myths.

To mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, this book gathers top scholars from the UK and US to analyse its historic and contemporary influence. Using a political science framework and a global scope extending from the UK to the Americas and the Pacific, the authors puncture numerous enduring myths.Magna Carta is celebrated around the world as a symbol of limited government and constitutionalism. But in 1215 Magna Carta was a failure, abrogated within months. Why then do we celebrate this piece of parchment? To mark the 800th anniversary this book brings together top scholars from the UK, US and Australia to answer this question and analyse Magna Carta's historic and contemporary influence. Using a political science framework, Magna Carta and its Modern Legacy draws from scholarship on influence and constitutional design to explain how parchment can contain executive power. Individual chapters on Britain discuss such topics as socioeconomic rights in Magna Carta; Magna Carta and the British constitution; and public understanding of the charter. Internationally focused chapters look at Magna Carta and jury trial in America, slavery in the Caribbean, court delays in the Pacific, the proportionality principle, and judicial supremacy.

'This is a worthy contribution to the study of Magna Carta at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It presents the reader with novel insights into the Great Charter's history and highlights talking points in the broader conversation about its place in the constitutional thought of the future. Its critical tone may help inoculate students against the mythology of Runnymede. But the collection also makes clear that, however mixed its legacy, and however modest its 'actual, direct' influence, Magna Carta will continue to structure debate around the most pressing questions of public power and individual liberty.' J. G. Allen, The Cambridge Law Journal

ISBN: 9781107533103

Dimensions: 228mm x 152mm x 15mm

Weight: 410g

286 pages