Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives on Tort Law is a comparative work that provides both contextual insights into and practical analysis of tort law in selected common law and civil law jurisdictions, including France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States. The book is divided into eight chapters, with Chapter 1 setting out the place of tort law in the respective legal systems. This is in some ways the most interesting chapter as it locates tort law within the social, cultural, and political contexts of the jurisdictions. As the authors note, tort law reflects to some degree the values a society places on risk allocation, mutual obligations, and protection of the vulnerable. It is dynamic and shaped both by legislation and judicial decisions. While the book purports to deal with tort law, in fact it is largely concerned with the tort of negligence.