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| | 1215 |  | Authors: Danny Danziger, John Gillingham
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Audio Books
Category: Book
Buy New: $7.97
New (2) Used (3) from $5.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 1190916
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
ISBN: 1840328169
EAN: 9781840328165
ASIN: 1840328169
Publication Date: June 19, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: May have small mark or shelf wear / Legendary independent bookstore online since 1994. Reliable customer service and no-hassle return policy. / 1215 the Year of Magna Carta CD
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Product Description
On 15 June 1215, rebel barons forced King John to meet them at Runnymede. They did not trust the King, so he was not allowed to leave until his seal was attached to the charter in front of him. This was Magna Carta. It was a revolutionary document. Never before had royal authority been so fundamentally challenged. Nearly 800 years later, two of the charter's sixty-three clauses are still a ringing expression of freedom for mankind: 'To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice'. And: 'No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or in any way ruined, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land'. "1215 - The Year of Magna Carta" explores what it was like to be alive in that momentous year. Political power struggles are interwoven with other issues - fashion, food, education, medicine, religion, sex. In many areas, it was a time of innovation and change. Windmills were erected, spectacles were invented. Dozens of new towns were founded. Oxford became the first university in England, and the great cathedrals of Salisbury and Lincoln were built. Whether describing matters of state or domestic life, this is a treasure house of a book, rich in detail and full of enthralling insights into the medieval world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 1215 Magna Carta April 5, 2008
This book is my first purchase here and I love it. These Authors, Danny Danziger and John Gillingham are funny, and they make it an interesting read. My friend who lives in Gillingham, England referred me to this book and purchases books here all the time. Thank you
 HOW TO WRITE A TEXTBOOK January 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A very "reader friendly" book that should become a model for other history writers. It give you ample background and description without boring you to tears with inane filler. There is enough detail, though, to make you feel you have learned something.
History Revisited December 5, 2007
In this book, 1215: The Year of Magna Carta, a continuation of the authors' ongoing work exploring specific points in English Medieval history as was seen earlier in the acclaimed The Year 1000, commonly-held notions about the time period are put to close examination and while sometimes confirmed and verified, popular ideas about the era are also more often stood on their head and shown as flawed. In this excellent study of England roughly at the time of Magna Carta, Danzinger delves into the everyday world of those who resided in England during the Plantagenet Dynasty. The lives of royals, peasants, townspeople, churchmen and churchwomen, soldiers, merchants, outlaws and lawyers are detailed by the masterful Danzinger, who does an excellent job of presenting the early thirteenth-century as it actually was, the good and the bad, the familiar and the foreign, the controversial and the grand.
Not only does a diligent reader come away from 1215 well-versed in the time studied but Danzinger implicitly challenges his audience to think for itself and question that which is tidily accepted as factual.
Among the interesting points I came away with were the fact that circa AD 1215, the height of the so-called Age of Faith, atheism and agnosticism not only existed but apparently were present among the population of western Europe to the point that various cynical comments were aroused from leading theologians who cast aspersions on the emptiness of the words of those who outwardly seemed the embodiment of virtuous obedience to Catholicism. Also the commonly-held conception of England of 1215 existing in a sort of ongoing apartheid in which the politically dominant but numerically small Norman population lived both apart from and above the unassimilated Anglo-Saxon majority is shown by Danzinger to be a fallacy, and he instead demonstrates the cohesive unity of the emerging English nation that reflected the forward-oriented Norman customs guiding a kingdom anchored by roots sunk deep into its Saxon past.
1215: The Year of Magna Carta is history at its best and it is a vibrant gaze backward into a time and place every bit as culturally rich as our own.
Great guide to the greatest of centuries July 3, 2007
This is a very absorbing account of life in the 13th Century. What I like especially is that the authors avoid the usual cliches of other popular historians.
Most readers won't need Danziger and Gillingham to remind them that medieval people did not believe the Earth was flat. That canard was probably started by Washington Irving. But how many know that the people of the day were not as deeply religious as they are normally depicted. Some were atheists!
The authors also show that there was actually some logic in legal procedures which today seem barbaric. For instance, as there was no system of law courts open to all, what better way of establishing right than a trial by combat? Most people came to an agreement long before they had to fight!
After reading the book you will have a greater respect for the people of the time and won't fall for the usual stereotypes.
Excellent short history May 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I learnt more about the History of Britain, Ireland and Northern Europe form this book than from all my school history lessons combined. This book is a relatively easy and entertaining read which also debunks and demystifies some of the legends around the Magna Carta, King John I and the much loved Richard Lionheart. Painting a picture of medieval western society and explaining how many of our modern day institutions, superstitions and life were forged in the past. Recommended as essential reading for all screenwriters, to ensure some authenticity in their future endeavours.
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