The latest edition of Charlesworth and Cain’s Company Law has been greatly expanded in the five years since a new edition last appeared on the shelves. Mr. Cain apologises for an increase of some 130 pages.

Many chapters have been rearranged and also extended to include new material. The Companies Act 1976 and recent proposals for company law reform are given considerable attention. The handling of several areas has been improved, including the topical issue of directors’ powers and duties. Matters affecting the memorandum and articles of association and the rule in Royal British Bank v. Turquand are given greater prominence. The decision of In Re Westbourne Galleries has been included. Unfortunately, the publication date did not permit the inclusion into the text of the Stock Exchange (Completion of Bargains) Act 1976, the Insolvency Act 1976 or the Report on Industrial Democracy, but their effects are considered briefly in a Note following the Preface.

Mr. Peter Brindley has provided a completely new chapter on taxation, which, as Mr. Cain hopes, is helpful. However, while it is not of course possible to give full coverage on all relevant issues, a more detailed consideration of this practical aspect of a company’s affairs would not have gone amiss.

The main problem with all editions of this book is the condensing of a vast amount of material in comparatively few words. The importance of some matters can be overlooked by the reader when statements are made so concisely. A vast amount of time is spent diving down to the footnotes and jumping from one chapter to another in the search for an answer to a problem. Such a criticism is, however, a compliment to the masterly structure of the volume.