Alexandra Braun, Lord President Reid Chair in Law, University of Edinburgh

Alexandra Braun holds the Lord President Reid Chair in Law at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Braun is as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of European and Comparative Law in Oxford and an Honorary Research Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is the Series Editor of the Edinburgh Studies in Law series published by Edinburgh University Press. Professor Braun has broad research interests in comparative law and legal history. Her current research focuses primarily on the fields of succession law and the law of trusts. Professor Braun is also interested in the impact of the transfer of wealth on questions of intergenerational equality and the cultural history of inheritance. Other interests include legal education, the study of the intellectual history of the law, and the development of various forms of legal scholarship and its interaction with, and impact upon, judicial decision-making.

"With her book, Professor Braun has opened up previously unexplored fields. At the same time, through her extremely thorough, intelligent and both historically deep and socially sensitive analyses, she sets methodological standards of comparative research today." - Nils Jansen, Professor of Civil Law and Director at the Institute of Legal History, University of Münster

"This is a book of extraordinary depth and breadth, covering the mysterious area of testamentary promises that sits between succession and contract. Alexandra Braun has considered the law of testamentary promises and how the failure of the promise to be carried out is handled across a wide range of common law and civil law countries; and New Zealand, which is the only country with testamentary promises legislation. Braun canvasses the different ways jurisdictions handle the promise to leave a gift by will to a carer, a son expecting a farm, or perhaps a housekeeper with extraordinary expertise and clarity. Her ability to compare and contrast a range of different legal cultures at significant depth is second to none. Anyone with an interest in succession or contract should read this book. They will be amply rewarded." - Prue Vines, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Private Law Research & Policy Group at UNSW, Sydney