The ‘astonishing revival’ of interest in the history of contract, to which Professor Stoljar alludes in his preface, has given rise in the last year alone to over 1,000 printed pages on the subject. Professor Simpson's massive first volume is perhaps the most copious treatise ever written on the history of a particular branch of the common law. The sheer weight of erudition which it reveals – when before have we seen a thirteen-page table of year-book cases cited? – coupled with Simpson's prominent reputation, will ensure that it becomes a classic. Stoljar's much shorter book is no less welcome an addition to the legal historian's library. It is primarily concerned with the seventeenth and later centuries, whereas Simpson's volume ends in 1677 (the year of the Statute of Frauds) and is three times as long; but Stoljar had managed by careful distillation to pack in many thoughtful and original ideas, and the result requires all the concentration of the careful reader. Simpson, by contrast, has been less cramped by space and the result, albeit more detailed, is easier to read; indeed, the style is often suggestive of the lecture room.

It is instructive to compare the contents of these two very different books, because the divergences of opinion and emphasis show us how little is still fully settled.