This project came about as a way to probe ‘risk’, an apparent but not wellunderstood aspect of private law, and as a chance to work with some outstanding scholars from around the world. The fulfilment of those twin purposes has been a joy, and one that appears already to be inspiring further works and collaborations which promise yet more reward. The funding was provided by the Cambridge Humanities Research Grant Scheme and from the Hollond Fund, Trinity College, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Trinity also provided the setting for my last academic conference before leaving Cambridge after 15 years, to move to Oxford, and a better send-off would be hard to devise.

I am incredibly grateful to the contributors for producing such fascinating insights and making the process so enjoyable and rewarding. Beyond those represented in the book, several other scholars and legal systems were involved in drafting the project, but there was not the opportunity or space to involve them in the book. In particular, other scholars from Cambridge and Canada attended the workshop and scholars from the USA and Germany were involved in planning the project. Particular thanks are due to Jason Neyers, Nick McBride and Nelson Rosenvald for their discussions on the project, and to Maria Paz Gatica for her assistance with the text. I am also grateful to Reinhard Zimmermann, Jenny Steele, Rebecca Moffat, Ann-Christin Maak-Scherpe and Sarah Worthington for their counsel and support.