For over 40 years Professor Sir Roy Goode QC has been involved in the preparation of international instruments, working with the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, the Hague Conference of Private International Law and the International Chamber of Commerce. The essays selected for this volume, written over the course of Sir Roy's career, offer a unique insight into the development of transnational commercial law, combining close theoretical study with an understanding of the practical relevance and application of the principles under discussion. Encompassing a range of topics, such as the processes and products of international harmonisation, comparative law and the conflict of laws, and placing a particular emphasis on the policies and problems of harmonisation, these essays were ground-breaking at the time of their publication and are still widely referenced to this day. Authorial commentary on the essays, provided through introductions to each section of the book, helps the reader to trace how the law has developed since, and often as a result of, the publication of each paper.

This rich compendium brings together selected key essays on the fundamental concepts and policy issues of English domestic commercial law by Professor Sir Roy Goode QC. Professor Goode is one of the most influential commercial law scholars of the last half-century and his works, which include deep analysis of previously unexplored issues, are characterized by an ability to express the most complex ideas in language of crystal clarity. The essays are grouped thematically into sections, each accompanied by an introduction from the author which sets the essays in their historical and modern context. This valuable authorial insight illuminates the way the law has developed since, and often as a result of, the publication of the papers. Further new material, written especially for this volume, includes a new essay 'Res Cogitans: Food for Thought'. Spanning a career of over fifty years, these innovative and forward-thinking essays broke new ground at the time of their orginal publication and continue to influence decisions and legal thinking to this day, both in the UK and abroad.