`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 `The Roman Law of Obligations will challenge and illuminate those coming to the subject for the first time-the original purpose of these lectures. Those familiar with Birks' writing on modern English law will also be fascinated to find here fully formed many of his most distinctive theses. But perhaps its greatest virtue is that it permits us to hear again the unique voice of Birks the teacher. ' Helen Scott, Professor in the Department of Private Law, University of Cape Town `Intellectually this is one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking texts written in English on the Roman sources. Both learners and teachers will profit immensely from studying it. ' Nils Jansen, Professor of Civil Law and Director at the Institute of Legal History, University of Munster `Peter Birks was a memorable teacher. His Edinburgh lectures on obligations were profound and insightful. They still present valuable instruction not just in the Civil law of the Romans but also in the universal principles that bind the law. Reading these invaluable lectures, which are so typical of the man and scholar, allows one again to hear his voice in a direct way that remains fresh and incisive. ' John Cairns, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Edinburgh `Peter Birks was probably the most influential English academic lawyer in the 20th century. He is best known for having mapped a newly discovered continent of English private law. But he was originally, and remained, a professor of Roman law. Roman law has shaped his worldview and his style as a lawyer. The present set of lecture notes on the Roman Law of Obligations provides a key to his legal thinking. ' Reinhard Zimmermann, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law