The Law of Contract

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Authors: Janet O'Sullivan & Jonathan Hilliard

Price: £19.99

Edition: 4th Edition (August 2008)

ISBN: 978-0-19-957174-1

Buy from OUP: Click Here

Being one of the first legal subjects for many undergraduates, contract law underpins many other areas of law.  It can therefore be daunting to both students and practitioners because there are many principles which are difficult to recall (or even understand!).  Fortunately, The Law of Contract by Janet O'Sullivan and Jonathan Hilliard provides one of the clearest and most coherent introductions to this fascinating and important area of law.

For such a relatively new text, The Law of Contract is now in its fourth edition and already has an excellent reputation gained by its well-balanced and superbly written content.  It impressively provides a succinct narrative on basic contractual principles while, at the same time, expanding on those issues requiring a fuller consideration.  The layout is also excellent with the material being clearly set-out and well cross-referenced.  Each chapter importantly includes a summary and suggestions for further reading: this is ideal for independent research.

Other excellent features of The Law of Contract include the authors' ability to split even complex issues into small manageable sections.  For example, promissory estoppel is split into its separate components allowing the reader to quickly understand what must be proven at court.  Similarly, misrepresentation and non-disclosure are complex areas of law with origins in fraud, tort and contract and rely upon a mixture of oral and written statements.  Thankfully, the authors have split this difficult area of law into accessible and manageable sections meaning it can be quickly understood.

For my part, there are few, if any, better introductory contract law texts out there than The Law of Contract.  The material is succinct and accessible.  The authors' mixture of academic and practical experience means it is also fluidly written.  This encourages the reader to read more of this joyful consideration of the law.  At a little under £20, I recommend The Law of Contract to anyone studying contract law or any practitioner who needs a handy text to quickly look-up important issues.  Without it, a significant amount of time will no doubt be spent researching the law in more detailed texts.  It is certainly a text which I keep close to hand.

Reviewed on 1 January 2012

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