A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations
David Ibbetson
Reviews and Awards
... provides a fresh look at many more subjects than most legal historians can have mastered. ... this book will cause readers to rethink their reaction to some present-day legal problems in light of the past. ... [Ibbetson] has given us both a basic treatment of the law of obligations and a considerable number of fresh insights that will enlighten any teacher's understanding and presentation of the subject. - Legal History (no date)
Dr Ibbetson has achieved something of a tour de force ... lucid and scholarly historical treatment ... easy to read and attractively presented ... much more than a simple chronological account of the evolution of legal doctrine ... - Law Quarterly Review April 2001
masterly review of the substantive law of tort in the Middle Ages ... Compendious though it is, the book is not long, and this is all the more remarkable in that the style is not at all dense, but easy and flowing. The text is replete with well-chosen examples, and the footnotes are informative and stimulating. ... As pleasurable as it is informative, as balanced as it is intelligent, this volume is an invaluable addition to a distinguished literature. - Modern Law Review March 2001
It is a valuable contribution to the literature of legal history...This work...is to be welcomed on this account for every advanced student of the subject will need to read, and digest, the book. - D.E.C. Yale Cambridge Law Journal Nov 2000
A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations is a remarkable book which every lawyer with any interest in the law of obligations should read. - Peter Cane July 1999
This is a great work of legal history by a quite exceptional scholar. Every legal historian will recognise the magnitude of its achievement. However, it is extraordinarily important that it should not be seen as only legal history. We have never had a better path to thorough understanding of the modern law of obligations in the common law. Every university jurist who teaches all or part of that area of the law must digest the learning of this book. - Peter Birks - Regius Professor of Civil Law, University of Oxford - August 1999.
