Edited by Jon E. Lewis
512 pages, Paperback
23.5cm x 16cm
An anthology of the events, documents and speeches that have shaped Western Civilization
The long tradition of individual freedoms and rights that form the basis of Western civilisation stretches back over more than 2000 years. We often assume that these rights are universal and permanent features of our lives, without understanding how hard-won they were - coming into existence not in a process of gradual evolution but through a series of individual actions and events. These landmark moments were written down in laws and speeches, frequently by people acting at the risk of their own lives, and collectively form the finest achievement of Western Civilisation. As we live through times when peace and universal justice can seem further away than ever, it is heartening to see that enlightened individuals arise in every generation. Never before has there been a collection of the major documents that compose the rights and freedoms we so often take for granted, but should value highest, carefully selected and introduced. Often written in simple language, they are at once inspiring, informative and fascinating. Among the many on his Condemnation to Death, 399 BC Plato 'The Republic', 375 BC Cicero 'On the State', 53 BC Jesus' 'The Sermon on the Mount', c. AD 30 Marcus Aurelius' 'Meditations', c. AD 177 The Magna Carta, 1215 Thomas More's 'Utopia', 1516 Martin Luther's Speech before the Diet of Worms, 1521 Foxe's Martyrdom of Ridley and Latimer, 1555 The Poor Law Act of 1598 The Mayflower Compact of 1620 Galileo's Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World Systems, 1632 The Habeas Corpus Act, 1679Jean Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract, 1762 The Declaration of Independence, 1776 Thomas Paine's 'Rights of Man', 1791-2 Mary Wollstonecraft's 'Vindication of the Rights of Woman', 1792 Reform Act, 1832 John Stuart Mill, 'On Liberty', 1859 Emile Zola, 'J'Accuse', 1898 Representation of the People Act, 1918 Winston Churchill, 'Their Finest Hour' Speech, 1940 The Charter of the United Nations, 1945 President John F