Equity, through the mechanism of the trust, may generally be thought to encompass a dualistic approach capable of resolving non-commercial shared property disputes through the use of either the resulting trust or the common intention constructive trust as alternative vehicles of remedy. In this monograph, the author addresses head-on this dualistic characteristic of equity-in-action by offering a broad-picture critique of the law in an effort to convince readers that the common intention constructive trust should prevail over the resulting trust as the preferred analytical vehicle whenever equity intervenes to resolve shared property disputes in non-commercial contexts.

I have two disclosures to make to readers of this review. One is that Tan and Thio are both well known to me personally as colleagues and friends, so readers must take this into account when evaluating my evaluation of this book. The second is that I hate casebooks. As a researcher, I find them confusing, incomplete (despite their density) and unhelpful (because of their density). As a teacher, I dread having to deal with student complaints that the expensive tome is unnecessarily confusing, dense and unhelpful-thus reinforcing the learned helplessness and deference to authority and tradition which the casebook method of teaching is so often criticised for perpetuating-and I resent having to spend hours supplementing and remedying the assigned casebook with my own photocopies, handouts, summaries and class discussion questions.

The law of trusts today is an area of law which is characterised by fluidity and dynamism. This can be partially attributed to the modern tendency in equity to place more emphasis on the principles underlying detailed rules formulated in cases rather than on the rules themselves, treating these rules more like guidelines which a court can refer to in applying the principles.

Not many writers in the diverse and very broad fields of transnational law are capable of integrating them into a clear, coherent and concise reading. The fourth edition of Dalhuisen on Transnational Comparative, Commercial, Financial and Trade Law continues to examine these bodies of law - from the formation of contracts in civil and common law to the private international law aspects of chattels and assignments, and from modern security interests to international aspects of financial services regulations - with its unique virtuosity in explanation, narration and presentation. Dalhuisen takes an international perspective on these various subjects, helping to locate domestic commercial and financial law in their wider context.