Yuval Sinai and Benjamin Shmueli, Maimonides and Contemporary Tort Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, 427 pp.

Maimonides is generally acclaimed as the most illustrious Jewish philosopher and legal codifier. The arguments are presented clearly, logically, and comprehensively, with the necessary terms of art from the fields of Jewish law and tort theory alike, lucidly explained. Morton Horwitz’s historical analysis of American tort law has been highly influential on the study of legal history. The tension between crop-growing farmers and neighboring animal husbandmen is one of the classic conflicts of tort law, discussed by many modern tort scholars, including Ronald Coase and Robert Ellickson. Moreover, the dialogue between Maimonidean tort law and that of today allows for insights into modern tort law. To sum up, this well-researched and detailed study will prove of interest not only to students of Jewish law, but to tort scholars more generally, and it can provide a starting point for further research in this history of tort law, whether Jewish, comparative, or trans-systemic.