Table of Contents

List of plates; Preface; Preface to the second edition; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; 1. The Charter and its history; 2. Government and society in the twelfth century; 3. Privilege and liberties; 4. Custom and law; 5. Justice and jurisdiction; 6. Crisis and civil war; 7. Quasi Pax; 8. The quality of the Great Charter; 9. The achievement of 1215; 10. From distraint to war; 11. The re-issues and the beginning of the myth; Appendices; References; Index.

Reviews

' ... a remarkable achievement, combining as it does exact scholarship with a lively and vigorous style ... It is its masterly setting of the Great Charter and its place in English history ... that makes this book so notable a contribution to the history of political thought in action.' Political Science Quarterly 'Professor Holt has written the first full-scale work to place Magna Carta firmly in its historical setting. This scholarly and well-written book will survive to celebrate many an anniversary of its own.' Sunday Telegraph 'It will remain one of the most exciting books to be written on a well-worn theme.' History '[Holt] has an unrivalled command of the forms of action and the machinery of government. He treads this ground as a master and no one can read his work without a deep respect for the care and accuracy with which he has assembled the details which give a fresh look to one of the most familiar stretches of English history.' English Historical Review