The Law of Obligations Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition

'This book', as James Gorley writes in the Americal Journal of Comparative Law 'is an account of the Roman roots of the modern law of contract, tort and unjust enrichment ... A principle goal is to show that the Roman legal tradition is a key to understanding modern law. For that reason, althought the book contains a magisterial treatment of the development of ancient Roman law, it does not, like the typical work on the subject, leave off with Justinian. It describes how Roman law was modified, beginning with the legal renaissance of the twelfth century, to form a ius commune, a law common to continental Europe. It shows how the Roman tradition shaped the national legal systems that emerged when the ius commune fragmented ... [and] describes how Roman law has influenced the English common law.' American Journal of Comparative Law