Stephen Cretney has long been regarded as the leading English scholar in the field of family law, as prolific as he is profound. From textbooks that provided guidance to generations of students to the crowning achievement of Family Law in the Twentieth Century: A History, his writing has always been a model of elegance and erudition. Even if the essays in this book had not been written in his honour, they would inevitably have had to rely heavily on his work. Private ordering, marriage, civil partnership, cohabitation, children, separation, divorce – the entire spectrum of family law is covered here – have all benefited from his insightful comments and meticulous scholarship. What also became apparent from the rush of judges and academics (including both established and up-and-coming researchers) wanting to contribute to this work is the equally high personal regard in which Stephen Cretney is held by his – for want of a better word – ‘peers’. This book is a labour of love.

With a foreword by Nicholas Wilson and contributions by Andrew Bainham, Chris Barton, Elizabeth Cooke, Ruth Deech, Gillian Douglas, John Eekelaar, Stephen Gilmore, Brenda Hale, Sonia Harris-Short, Joanna Harwood, Jonathan Herring, Sue Jenkinson, Sanford N. Katz, Penny Lewis, Nigel Lowe, Mavis Maclean, Judith Masson, Joanna Miles, Walter Pintens, Christine Piper, Rebecca Probert, Neil Robinson, Simon Rowbotham, and Jens M. Scherpe.


About the book
‘[a] fascinating volume that provides an interesting perspective on where family law has come from, and where it is going.’
Claire Simmonds in Cambridge Law Journal (2012) 734

‘It would be unsurprising if its chapters, distinctly readable and pithy as well as learned, are still being read and cited by family lawyers 50 years from now.’
Brian Sloan in Child and Family Law Quarterly (2012) 496

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