This is a thoroughly modern casebook in the tradition of earlier editions, of comparable length, and similar in structure and approach. The Eighth Edition offers basic contract law in relatively brief free-standing units that may be presented in various sequences as the instructor prefers. It focuses on contract interpretation as a primary means to resolve a wide range of doctrinal and practical contract problems. It highlights the expanding use of arbitration clauses in commercial and consumer contracts and raises countervailing concerns about that expansion through California's recent unconscionability jurisprudence focusing on overreaching arbitration provisions. The Eighth Edition updates statutory materials and notes; provides comparative law materials, indicating alternative approaches to common problems in other legal systems.