ADAM SMITH: THE WEALTH OF NATIONS (1776) The Scottish philosopher gave birth to the modern belief in the free market. Smith argued that the invisible hand of competition will guide an economic system based on individual self-interest. His influence still steers economic policy through the world today and has massively influenced social policy through the whole of the Western world. THE KING JAMES BIBLE (1611) This "translation to end all translations" was the result of the combined effort of about fifty scholars. They relied most heavily on Tyndale's Old and New Testament and also on The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even used the Rheims New Testament. The great revision of the Bishop's Bible had begun. From 1605 to 1606 the scholars engaged in private research. From 1607 to 1609 the work was assembled. In 1610 the work went to press, and in 1611 the first of the huge (16 inch tall) pulpit folios known as The King James Bible came off the printing press. MAGNA CARTA (1215) Magna Carta established for the first time a key constitutional principle - that the power of the king could be limited by a written grant. This principle is the cornerstone of the British constitutional and legal system. The royal chancery produced a formal royal grant, which became known as Magna Carta (Latin for the 'Great Charter').
| Name | Type | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melvyn Bragg | Writer |