A copy of the Magna Carta sold yesterday for £10.6 million, reports the BBC. The copy is from 1297, one of only 17 still in existence, and was bought by US businessman David Rubenstein.

If you are not a historian and wish to understand why the Magna Carta is such a big deal, then read this feature. As my old history teacher, Mr Kirby, hammered into us again and again, the Magna Carta helped establish the principle of Habeas Corpus which protects us from unlawful imprisonment by the state.

(Oh…while we are on the subject, did you know that a book of poety written by prisoners at the Guantánamo Bay detention centre is to be published?)