An accessible basic guide to arbitration is much needed, particularly given the current surge of interest in alternative dispute resolution techniques. The idea behind this book, in this sense, is inspired. Its implementation, unfortunately, is wanting.

The author has three express aims: to provide in simple and jargon-free terms a general idea of what arbitration is and how it works; to indicate how and where advice and services in connection with arbitration can be obtained; and to provide a compact reference source of information and guidance about procedures. To this end the book is divided into three parts: I. Arbitration in Practice (text); II. A Layman’s Guide to the Arbitration Acts; and III. Typical Documentation (precedents). Again, the aims are laudable and the structure is attractive; however, the substance must be viewed with circumspection.

The primary concern of the book is domestic, commercial arbitration under the provisions of the Arbitration Acts 1950–1979, a subject-matter substantially more limited than the title suggests. The author stresses the need to distinguish, in particular, international, industrial dispute and County Court small claims arbitration from that dealt with, and concedes that such is outside the focus of the book. Nonetheless, references to the small claims procedure are made in the text, the Arbitration Act 1975 (which deals with non-domestic arbitration agreements and enforcement of awards within the 1958 New York Convention) is included in Part II, and a five-page exposition on Arbitration in Industrial Disputes appears as Chapter 10. Such references and inclusions are problematic. In relation to County Court arbitration, readers are in danger of failing to notice that the Arbitration Act 1950 Part I and the 1979 Act do not apply. The essential difference between it and the type of arbitration primarily addressed by the book is not emphasized, namely that the arbitrator’s authority does not derive from a contractual agreement. Moreover, and this point is through no fault of the author, the relevant statute is now the County Courts Act 1984, not the 1959 Act referred to in the text. The layman’s guide to the Arbitration Act 1975, although making for completeness of Part II, is anomalous and of questionable relevance given that it is not dealt with in the text because it is related to the “complexities of international commercial arbitration” and therefore “beyond the capacity of the average non-specialist to enter upon” (p. 6). Chapter 10, Arbitration in Industrial Disputes, contains one statement in particular which must be corrected. The general immunity from tort liability conferred by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974, and mentioned in the text, was removed by repeal of s. 14 of that Act by the Employment Act 1982, s. 15. This is not the only example of the text being out of date at the time it was written. The author also refers to the Limitation Act 1939 and the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949, which are superseded by the Limitation Act 1980 and the Legal Aid Act 1974, respectively.

Turning from scope and structure to the substance of the text, Chapter 1, Arbitration and the Law, is a curious mixture of vague statements and attention to technical detail. I could not divine the criteria used for inclusion. Chapter 2,