The idea for this book was conceived in a café in the beautiful surroundings of Trento, Italy. The editors had come to the city to participate in a European project, the Common Core of European Private Law. They discovered a common interest in the law of agency, and began to discuss the possibility of publishing a comparative book. It was therefore in those magnificent surroundings, and in an atmosphere of discussion of the harmonisation of European private law, that the idea for the book took shape.

Several years later, our project has come to fruition. We would like to thank, above all, the contributors of the national chapters, not only for their excellent chapters, but also for their patience in the face of the challenges which comparative projects of this type tend to face. Co-ordinating different chapters on a number of legal systems is not an easy task. Thanks must also go to Finola O'Sullivan of Cambridge University Press for her patience and support throughout the project.

We would also like to express our sincere thanks to Professor Francis Reynolds. Not only did he provide an invaluable chapter bridging the gap between the English common law and the US Restatement (Third) on Agency, but he also acted as an ‘honorary editor,’ commenting on each of the national chapters. The book would indeed have been a different one without his input.