This second collection of Brian Coote's previously published writings is for the most part a follow-up to his Contract as Assumption (Hart Publishing, 2010). Part of the theme of that collection was that in a bilateral contract the obligations of the parties, both primary and secondary, are those which at formation they have each assumed, that is, have taken upon themselves. Being exchanged at the point of formation, these assumptions constitute the consideration. The institution of contract provides a facility the purpose of which is to enable the parties thereby to bind themselves to legal (contractual) obligation. This emphasis on what happens at formation has prompted the inclusion of several of the papers in this collection. These focus on intention, offer and acceptance, the qualification of primary and secondary obligations whether express or implied, agency, and the effect of illegality on pre-existing rights. Falling outside this group are two pieces respectively on chance and the burden of proof and on impecuniosity, in each case in tort as well as in contract. The collection ends with the author's valedictory lecture, "Contract - an Underview". In this paper, delivered on his retirement from the University of Auckland, he summed up his thinking on Contract. It is now for the first time given general currency.

It has many times been said that contracts involve assumptions of obligation or liability, but what that means, and what it is that is assumed, have not often been discussed. It is to further such discussion that some of the author's previously published writings around this subject have been brought together in this book. His basic premises are that contractual obligation and liability in this context are two sides to the same coin and that an assumption of one is an assumption of both. Parties are bound not because liability has been imposed upon them by law as a result of their having entered into a contract but because, in the act of assuming, they have imposed it upon themselves. Contract provides a facility the purpose of which is to enable this to be done within the limits prescribed by law. The implication of these premises are much more significant than might be supposed when applied to such areas of contract as formation, consideration, intention to contract, exception clauses, privity and damages. The book concludes with a treatment of the role of assumption in tort. Because of the importance of its subject matter and its wide-ranging treatment, this book should appeal not only to teachers and postgraduate students of contract but also to practitioners in the field and to anyone else with an interest in contract theory.

This second collection of Brian Coote's previously published writings is for the most part a follow-up to his Contract as Assumption (Hart Publishing, 2010). Part of the theme of that collection was that in a bilateral contract the obligations of the parties, both primary and secondary, are those which at formation they have each assumed, that is, have taken upon themselves. Being exchanged at the point of formation, these assumptions constitute the consideration. The institution of contract provides a facility the purpose of which is to enable the parties thereby to bind themselves to legal (contractual) obligation. This emphasis on what happens at formation has prompted the inclusion of several of the papers in this collection. These focus on intention, offer and acceptance, the qualification of primary and secondary obligations whether express or implied, agency, and the effect of illegality on pre-existing rights. Falling outside this group are two pieces respectively on chance and the burden of proof and on impecuniosity, in each case in tort as well as in contract. The collection ends with the author's valedictory lecture, "Contract - an Underview". In this paper, delivered on his retirement from the University of Auckland, he summed up his thinking on Contract. It is now for the first time given general currency.