Understanding Contract Law

* Presents a succinct but intellectually challenging overview of contract law * Goes beyond traditional #black letter# exposition to provide a real understanding of the subject * Offers a unique analysis of contract doctrine # the authors# terminology of #market-individualism# and #consumer-welfarism# has been widely adopted * Explains how the contract rule-book emerged, and how the rule-book doctrines and particular judicial decisions reflect a range of underlying tensions (relating to the general ideologies of adjudication and the particular ideologies of contract) * Includes all key case law and statutory developments

Part 1: Groundwork; Understanding Contract: First Steps; The Rule-Book in Historical Perspective; Contractual Disputes; Part 2: The Judges and the Rule-Book; Agreement; The Conditions of Enforceability; The Concept of Risk; Remedies; The Ideologies of Contract; Part 3: The Rule-Book and the Transformation of Contract; Contract Transformed; Understanding Contract as a Social Phenomenon; Epilogue; Bibliography