Prof. Reinhard Zimmermann is one of the most outstanding European jurists today. His prolific work is well known, and his book The Law of Obligations is an indispensable reference for all those interested in the evolution of European private law. Prof. Zimmermann?s book, Roman Law, Contemporary Law, European Law, written with remarkable clarity and depth of knowledge, is composed of three essays based on lectures given by the author in Cambridge in 1999. The first essay deals with the transformation of German scholarship regarding Roman law, and the relinquishing of Roman law as ground for the theory of law. In the second essay, Zimmermann carries us through the transition from civil law to codification in Germany, showing that the influence of the BGB on private German law was less dramatic that it has been regarded. The final chapter is dedicated to what he calls the historical foundation of European law, where he discusses the place of the different legal traditions in the formation of a new (unified) European Law.
European Review of Private Law