While there have been innumerable collections of humour in the courts, this is the first anthology of over 80 stories about disputes resolved without the aid of litigation. It reveals rich sources from old and new China, ancient Greece, Rome, Aesop's fables, medieval England and French vaudeville, as well as Shakespeare, Chaucer, the romantic novel and Stravinsky as arbitrator. What may surprise many is the role that women have played as arbitrators since history began.