• 1. The origins of contemporary private law 1789–1807; 2. Antecedents: the early Middle Ages c. 500–c.1100; 3. Europe and Romano-Germanic law c. 1100–c. 1750; 4. Enlightenment, natural law and the modern Codes: from the mid-eighteenth to the early-nineteenth century; 5. The nineteenth century: the interpretation of the Code and the struggle for law; 6. Statute, case law and scholarship; 7. Factors; General bibliography.

"More than a historical introduction to the contemporary law of Belgium and the Netherlands, less than a study that pays particular attention to the dichotomy between English and Continental law, van Caenegem's essay is consistently well informed (the bibliography is superb), occasionally provocative, and usually persuasive." Michael D. Gordon, American Historical Review

• 1. The origins of contemporary private law 1789–1807; 2. Antecedents: the early Middle Ages c. 500–c.1100; 3. Europe and Romano-Germanic law c. 1100–c. 1750; 4. Enlightenment, natural law and the modern Codes: from the mid-eighteenth to the early-nineteenth century; 5. The nineteenth century: the interpretation of the Code and the struggle for law; 6. Statute, case law and scholarship; 7. Factors; General bibliography.

"More than a historical introduction to the contemporary law of Belgium and the Netherlands, less than a study that pays particular attention to the dichotomy between English and Continental law, van Caenegem's essay is consistently well informed (the bibliography is superb), occasionally provocative, and usually persuasive." Michael D. Gordon, American Historical Review

• 1. The origins of contemporary private law 1789–1807; 2. Antecedents: the early Middle Ages c. 500–c.1100; 3. Europe and Romano-Germanic law c. 1100–c. 1750; 4. Enlightenment, natural law and the modern Codes: from the mid-eighteenth to the early-nineteenth century; 5. The nineteenth century: the interpretation of the Code and the struggle for law; 6. Statute, case law and scholarship; 7. Factors; General bibliography.

"More than a historical introduction to the contemporary law of Belgium and the Netherlands, less than a study that pays particular attention to the dichotomy between English and Continental law, van Caenegem's essay is consistently well informed (the bibliography is superb), occasionally provocative, and usually persuasive." Michael D. Gordon, American Historical Review