Contract Law: An Index and Digest of Published Writings

Publisher: Hart Publishing

Author: Adam Kramer

Price: £25.00

Edition: 1st Edition (January 2010)

ISBN: 978-1-84113-574-8

Buy from Hart Publishing: Click Here

The aim of Contract Law: An Index and Digest of Published Writings is simple: to provide an index of the most useful and important academic and other writings on contract law.  Such an ambitious aim is largely achieved and, whilst the book's usefulness is somewhat undermined by those having access to electronic search engines, it easily achieves that aim for those who are not so fortunate.

Written by an experienced commercial barrister and former lecturer, Contract Law: An Index and Digest of Published Writings is split into twenty-two chapters including textbooks, pre-contractual liability, formation; terms of the contract; common mistake and frustration; misrepresentation, duress, undue influence and unconscionability; breach and termination; remedies, damages; concurrent liability; procedure, litigation and drafting; contract and other areas of law; and legal history.  This approach is comprehensive meaning that not a stone is left unturned in the author's quest to satisfy the book's aim.

For many lawyers Contract Law: An Index and Digest of Published Writings will be a useful but not key text.  Its digests are very good and explain the thrust of the article or text.  However, whilst it impressively brings together many of the main writings on contract law, much of this information can be found elsewhere.  For example, Sweet & Maxwell's Westlaw, an electronic subscription based web service, has an excellent journal search facility.  Libraries will also often have the main textbooks.  The book does, however, come into its own if the reader does not have access to a database like Westlaw or a well-stocked library.  In such a case, it is a valuable flashlight for any self-respecting lawyer.

Adam Kramer's aim is admirable and, for those lawyers with limited resources, fulfils a clear gap in the market.  Lawyers who do have a number of resources will, however, still find Contract Law: An Index and Digest of Published Writings a useful, but not crucial, companion.  Kramer is in an excellent position to put together such a resource: having both an academic background and now a growing commercial practice.  If a second edition is published this will, no doubt, pull together a greater number of resources.  Its price does, however, mean it should appear (at the very least) on the bookshelves of any self-respecting library.

Reviewed on 21 March 2010

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