Essential Cases: Contract Law (6th edn) by Nicola Jackson

 Essential Cases: Contract Law (6th edn) by Nicola Jackson is a companion, revision guide, and textbook covering a number of the most essential cases which law students studying a qualifying law degree in England and Wales need to know. There are a number of cases for each of the units one may find in a contract law module, including, but not limited to, offer, acceptance and consensus ad idem, consideration and Promissory Estoppel, Contract Interpretation, Frustration and Remedies, to name just a few. The Essential Cases books provide the facts and decisions of the cases as well as a commentary of why it is important and some of the wider questions for students to consider as both a way to enhance one's learning as well as preparation for potential examination questions.

I really liked this book as it provided an accessible and time-efficient way to read cases that one needs to know as part of their law degree, with all the most important binding principles outlined and explained in clear English language, rather than in legalese taking up 10, 20 or even sometimes over 50 pages in the official law reports. These books are particularly good for first-year students who are still getting used to university education, so they may not be as practised when it comes to time management, and they need a quick way to digest the cases. These books are also great companions for revision because they break down the cases in easy-to-understand language in a small amount of space.

There are only two criticisms (with a very minor picky slight criticism) that I have regarding this book. Firstly, although it is entitled essential cases, there are a number of somewhat essential and important cases which are not covered in this book, despite these cases being decided before this edition was published. On the other hand, there are also some less significant cases which are published instead in this book. Although this does slightly take away some of the value of this book, I can make a guess of why this may be the case, and if I' 'm right, I cannot criticise this decision. I would suggest that such cases are left out to ensure students also read the full case reports, which is an important skill for any law student, and additional cases are included to expand one's knowledge. Both of these reasons I can only say add the value of the book back which was taken away from this criticism. In addition, some of the cases included a very long description in each section, whereas in some cases, it was very bare. I am not quite sure of why there are such significant differences between some of these cases. Finally, students should be cautious with how they reference some of the cases in this book due to legal conventions that are very rarely followed, for example, A & B rather than A v B.

Therefore, in conclusion, I rate this book 4 stars, making it a very good book as it provides a breakdown of the most important cases for law students to read about in a time-efficient manner and their understanding of these cases is aided by the clear language used. This book further makes law as a subject more accessible to a greater number of students including those who may not find traditional law reports as accessible for whatever reason. I would highly recommend Jackson's Essential Cases in Contract Law to undergraduate law students and beyond. Having said that, it may also be of some use to A-Level law students to provide more advanced knowledge of the most essential, relevant and up-to-date cases.