I hope that this guide to the English law of contract will be of use and interest to both students and lawyers in practice.

I have provided the reader with introductory summaries to each topic. Chapter 14 reflects the very considerable importance of interpretation of written contracts, which practitioners are not slow to name as the most important aspect of contract law. In addition, I decided to include chapters on illegality and assignment, and a concluding chapter on three topical matters: ‘good faith’, European ‘soft law’ codes, and the (perennial, but perhaps pressing) question of case law technique versus codification. This is an ‘adult book’: ‘minors’, since small, are confined to paragraph 1.09.

By the use of varying fonts, the reader can locate quickly discussion of greater detail, including substantial portions of quoted text, and take appropriate action, perhaps sometimes evasive. Paragraph numbering has facilitated cross-referencing, which is particularly important in this cohesive subject where doctrines are closely connected or overlap. In each chapter there is a short list of further selected reading. At the end of the book there is a copious general bibliography. There is also in the appendix to this book a set of ‘cameo’ biographies of the leading writers and judges (dead or retired) who have shaped this subject.