1215: The Year of Magna Carta

There is a type of history book that, no matter how interested the reader may be in the subject, is difficult to get through. Written in an acedemic style that's hard to plod through, there have been some that I've just given up on. I'm glad to say this book is not one of those. Written in a style that's easy to read and understand, this book delves into not only the life lived by royalty and the priviledged in the year of Magna Carta (hence the title of the book), but the lives of various social strata of the time. If you have an interest in medieval history, especially English medieval history, then I would say you would enjoy this book. Highly recommended

On June 15, 1215, facing a rebellion of his barons, King John of England (yep, the villain of the Robin Hood movie, but that's a different subject) was forced to the conference table, and signed an historic charter - Magna Carta. Widely believed to be the very root of Anglo-Saxon, and later World, democracy, Magna Carta is venerated by many. But, what do you really know about Magna Carta? In this fascinating book, the authors look at England in 1215, and give the reader an wonderfully in-depth understanding of what life was like at that time, what was going on in England and the rest of Europe, and finally gives the story of Magna Carta, the myths that have grown up around it and even its wording. Every once in a while a book comes along that surprises me with its excellence - well, this is one of those books! The authors do an excellent job of giving the reader a feel for life in the thirteenth century, really bringing it to life. I enjoyed every page of this fascinating history book, and highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys reading a good book!

Following the great success of his book The Year 1000, this book comes along to describe a time only a couple of centuries later. How silly, what could possibly have happened in so short a time so long ago. Well, of course there was the Magna Carta. And that's probably why this particular year was picked. One of the great documents of all time, some of its clauses are repeated almost verbatim in the US Constitution. But then as you get a little further into it, there was a lot going on about that time. The crusades were just about at their prime Jerusalem had just been taken by Saladin. The University at Oxford was established, Cambridge just a few years later. And in 1215 Peking fell to Genghis Kahn. The real strength in the Year 1000 was its detail on common life at the time. By 1215 a lot of this had changed. For one thing, buildings were now being built of stone rather than wood, and that means that at least some of them have lasted until today so that we have more evidence of how people actually lived. About half the book is on the life being lived by the ordinary people. The other half covers the soap opera life that King John and his family was leading at the time. Excellent book, all but guaranteed to be a best seller.

What is really great about this book is not that it gives you an insight into the Magna Carta, one of the most famous documents of all time, but that it looks at the time in which it was written. And this is rich fodder for some really great story telling. Of course the Magna Carta is discussed in context, and written in its entirety at the back of the book (the first time I have read it), but it is the story of how it came to be that is the real meat in this fabulous book. First we have the Plantagenets, and what a fascinating family they were. John was on the throne in 1215, but his mother, father, and assorted siblings were among the most interesting people English history have to offer. The entire family provided the greatest soap opera scripts ever written! Then we have the local aristocracy. Driven by John's fickle nature (and who could blame him with such a family!) they were faithful, faithess, loyal and treacherous all, some all at once. And then we have the local times themselves. There are chapters on the church, justice and how the everyday people lived their lives. The aristocracy lived exceptionally well of course, perhaps better than we in the 21st century realise. All in all this is an absolutely fascinating snapshot of an interesting year in a turbulent time. And it is even more interesting to speculate how events so long ago impact on the way we live our lives today. This is a great book - entertaining, thoughtful and fascinating. What more could you ask?