David Starkey - Magna Carta

The UK’s leading constitutional historian, known for his forthright views, talks about Magna Carta 800 years on - the 13th century agreement that, imperfect though it was, limited for the first time the power of the monarch by stating the basic rights, privileges, and liberties of leading citizens and clergy.

There are few more stimulating thinkers, and few who understand better the way the most powerful have thought throughout our history. His assessment of the situation then, and how our constitution stands today exactly 800 years later, will certainly surprise and challenge the listener.

David Starkey is a Cambridge educated grammar school boy who became a respected LSE lecturer, a uniquely abrasive debater on Radio 4’s Moral Maze, and the creator and presenter of a number of popular historical TV series on such subjects as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, the Monarchy, the Churchills, and Music and Monarchy.