The Roman Law of Obligations presents a series of lectures delivered by the late Peter Birks as an introductory course in Roman law. Discovered in complete manuscript form following his death, the lectures are published here for the first time. The lectures present a clear conceptual map of the Roman law of obligations, guiding readers through the institutional structure of contract, delict, quasi-contract, and quasi-delict. They introduce readers to the terminology needed to understand the foundations of Roman law, and the conceptual framework of the law of obligations that left an enduring legacy on European private law. The lectures offer an invaluable introduction to Roman private law for those coming to the subject for the first time. They will also make stimulating reading for academics and lawyers interested in Roman law, European legal history, and the lasting influence of Roman law on modern private law.

About the Author
The late Peter Birks was Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College. Widely renowned for his work on Roman law, the English law of obligations, and legal history, he was founder of the Clarendon Law Lectures, editor of the Clarendon Law Series, and editor of the Oxford English Law Series. Eric Descheemaeker is a Lecturer in European private law at the University of Edinburgh. A former doctoral student of Peter Birks, he specializes in comparative private law and legal history. He is the author of The Division of Wrongs (OUP, 2009).

Reviews
There is no need to present a complete survey of its contents, considering that it follows the traditional institutional pattern with which readers of this journal will be familiar. But here the parallel with current textbooks ends.This is no ordinary textbook, it is a real, life introduction to Roman law. The lectures are compulsive reading. The book teaches to understand not just Roman law but law as such, to understand how it works. * Boudewijn Sirks, All Souls College Oxford, The Legal History Review *
An absolute pleasure to read. Crisp, sharp and with humour, these lectures are colourful, thoroughly engrossing and intellectually rigorous... the beauty of Birks's lectures is that there is as much for a modern lawyer, who is willing to look, as there is for a student of Roman law. * Stephen Bogle, Law Quarterly Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198719274
Author Peter Birks
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 650g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 162mm * 26mm