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The Rebirth of Contract: Putting Promissory Estoppel to the Sword


ISBN13: 9781009367615
Published: June 2026
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: UK
Format: Hardback
Price: £105.00



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The Rebirth of Contract is a comprehensive guide for judges, academics, and students seeking to understand the contract law doctrine of 'promissory estoppel.' It provides evidence that this doctrine was artificially invented and historically unprecedented and offers economic and moral grounds for repudiating it. The book also presents an analytic framework for deciding 'promissory estoppel cases' using traditional contract law tools. By tracing the historical development of Anglo-American contract law since the Norman conquest of England, the book provides a forensic investigation into and refutation of the claims of historical precedent upon which promissory estoppel was marketed to the American judiciary and academy.

The Rebirth of Contract includes a law and economics analysis of both traditional contract law and promissory estoppel, focusing on Pareto improving transactions. Finally, it offers a roadmap for returning to traditional contract law.

Subjects:
Contract Law
Contents:
Introduction

Part I. The History: Genesis And Development of Anglo-American Contract Law:
1. Roman contract law
2. The reception and the Norman conquest
3. English contract law through the middle ages and renaissance
4. The continuation of English contract law in America

Part II. The Invention: Artificial Creation of The Doctrine of Promissory Estoppel:
5. Terra incognita
6. Newfound, artificially created, strict liability tort
7. Technical contours of the concept
8. The objective, and the marketing
9. Application in practice
10. The destabilization of contact law

Part III. The Critique:
11. Claims to historical precedent
12. Microeconomic analysis
13. The moral fo

ndation of contract law

Part IV. The Pathway Back: Return To Classical Contract Law:
14. Proposed conceptual framework for deciding "promissory estoppel" cases
15. Recommendation for third restatement to reverse promissory estoppel
Conclusion

Annex A: Blackstone
Annex B: Langdell