Gifts have been an integral part in the lives of human beings. They are given as a token of respect, love or affection. In the eyes of law, a gift is considered to be a transaction without any consideration being given. The system of giving gifts cannot be left to the free will of the persons giving it. The law has played an important mechanism in safeguarding the giving of gifts. This introduction is essential to arrive at Richard Hyland’s scholarly book, ‘Gifts: A Study in Comparative Law’. Richard Hyland is Distinguished Professor at the Rutgers University Law School in Camden, New Jersey. He has several works on comparative laws to his name. He is also proficient in legal theory and has widely written on the topic. The sheer expertise of the author can be easily identified in this book which gives a critical approach to the subject of comparative laws which raises many an intriguing debate in the mind of the reader.

The book concentrates on the western legal system. It looks into the fact that some of the basic principles of law had to modified by the western legal systems in order to regulate the giving of gifts. This book studies how the law has changed over the years. It gives a wonderful insight into the evolution of the law relating to gifts. In this book, Richard Hyland has examined the law of gifts in England, India, and the United States, and in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The book is unique because it does not restrict itself to the concepts of law. The concept of Gifts also surveys the extensive discussion about gift giving in anthropology, history, economics, philosophy, and sociology. This gives an overall picture as to the various disciplines in which the concepts of gifts can be compared and explored. Further, Hyland puts up a functionalist argument in dealing with the comparative laws. In addition, Hyland offers a critique of the functionalist method in comparative law and demonstrates the benefits of an interpretive approach in dealing with the laws. The book is a classic example of the intermingling of the two approaches to get to a conclusion which is intriguing and admirable.

Hyland explores as to why the legal mind so often concludes that giving of a gift is a danger to society. This work is one of scholarly comparison, the likes of which we have not seen since Mauss’s classic text. The book is instrumental in changing the terms of the debate about the gift. This book is not only beneficial for the lawyers but is also a must for anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and historians and other scholars interested in the burgeoning multi-disciplinary literature on the gift. It truly depicts the multi disciplinary nature of gifts which is not explored in many works. This book is a masterpiece because of the approach it takes to describe the concept of gifts. The material is strictly doctrinal which gives an added edge. This doctrinal approach provides a significant consistently interesting, and exceptionally well done piece of work.

If we look at the book, we can understand the clarity of the concepts as a separate chapter has been dedicated to the methodology. The introduction of a section called o critique reflects the way Hyland has been a constant examiner of the patterns of his own study. The book gains an edge for the lawyers as it talks about the legal concept of the gift. The very fact that the legality of the concept being specifically mentioned citing the traditions and other improvements of a law which had been long forgotten is itself is a variation in a big way. Moreover, we also find the terminologies being properly discussed. The book moves in a very fluent manner like many of the text books which a student studies yet having the depth of a highly scholarly work. From the concept we move on to the capacity of making a gift, promise, the actual act of making and finally the revocation which gives a total legal dimension to the subject.

Only after making the stand on the legal perspective doubly clear, Hyland moves on to discuss the other pointers of the subject in which he does not restrict himself only to legal scenarios but also delves into the other disciplines which are involved. This very thing discussion makes the book unique as it brings to the reader a mixture of legal thoughts as well as gives a sociological outlook which has been missing in many books on this subject. The heavy discussions on the common law have been portrayed at ease by Hyland who has taken forward the subject in a fluent as well as an effective manner which will be liked by the students of law as well as the professionals. A bare reading of the text will show how the author has taken his efforts to deal with scholarly and wayward customs so as to bring in a way of decent codification which is be admired by the readers of the instrument. It is but evident that Hyland has gone beyond the repetitive frameworks of  writing skill which exists normally in this subject to bring forth a book which will be unique in several ways and manners if it is to be so put.

This book can be called a gift to comparative laws. It is a page turner in its own capacity and uniqueness. Going far back in time and widely across the world’s legal systems, Prof. Hyland has shown how the seemingly simple and everyday act of gift giving has generated a wealth of legal issues and panoply of solutions. Professor Hyland has written a work of massive but accessible comparative scholarship dealing with a problem that engages the attention of every legal system: how the law does and should regard gifts-with what mixture of permission, encouragement, and regulation. After setting the stage by reviewing the variety of social scientific treatments of the social meaning and significance of the gift, and explaining the utility and limitations of comparative studies, Hyland conducts a detailed, fascinating comparison of the approaches taken by the Western legal traditions. The book will be an indispensable resource for students of the gift, and of comparative law in general.

Richard Hyland has written the first wide-ranging modern monograph on the law relating to gifts. His book fills a gap in our comparative law library that has been felt for some time. It constitutes a piece of truly foundational research. Professor Hyland’s important book about the long shadow of the donation deserves the attention of both judges and scholars. It represents a turning point in the study of the law of gifts. Richard Hyland has undertaken a particularly demanding task. He has written the first wide-ranging modern monograph on gift law. It is principally a work of comparative law, but one that is also wonderfully well informed about the anthropological, economic, and social background of gift giving. Even legal history is examined. It is a truly foundational work, one that hardly anyone would be able to study in a single reading, but in which one can always read with great benefit.