An Introduction to Land Law

Publisher: Hart Publishing

Author: Simon Gardner

Price: £17.95

Edition: 2nd Edition (July 2009)

ISBN: 978-1-841-13980-7

Buy from Hart Publishing: Click Here

Simon Gardner's aim in this second edition of An Introduction to Land Law is commendable: to make a difference by telling the rules' story and to talk about them in the way they work and in a way that will allow readers to understand them.  This is some aim as land law is notorious for its complexity, being a mixture of common law and often archaic provisions.  Fortunately, it largely achieves this aim.

Written by an experienced land law lecturer, An Introduction to Land Law is separated into three main parts: the basic ideas; acquisition; and the rights.  Each part is then sub-divided into a number of individual chapters including contracts to confer, adverse possession and prescription, restrictive covenants, leases, mortgages and trusts.  By breaking the material up in this way, Gardner ensures the carefully crafted and accessible structure of the material remains intact.

An Introduction to Land Law is, to a large extent, impressively written and one of the best introductory texts to this difficult area of law.  There is, however, some room for improvement in the author's style.  Whilst the majority of the text is written in plain English (which the author should be applauded for), he sometimes falls into using overly-complex language.  For example, he calls a mortgage a "salient concrete manifestation of the security right it represents".  That said, this is a minor blemish in an otherwise outstanding introductory account of land law.

Lawyers looking for an accessible consideration of land law, whether at an undergraduate level or in practice, should not be without Gardner's An Introduction to Land Law.  It impressively provides a coherent and engaging introduction to this notably difficult but important area of law.  The numerous practical examples, showing the law in a practical situation, are invaluable.  Its price, at less than £18, also means it should be a text that law students and practitioners should not be without.

Reviewed on 30 September 2009

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