As its title suggests, this book deals with the basics of law, though it also contains many elements drawn from legal theory and philosophy. The book commences with a fundamental chapter on law and other rules of social conduct, including an important section (certainly from the point of view of this writer, a human rights Judge) on the relations between moral and legal rules, including characteristics which distinguish legal rules from other norms of behaviour.Who will this book be important for? I see many different groups of readers who should be interested. The book is, of course, highly relevant and useful for newcomers to the law. Here they will read and learn about the important principles of law. But it will also be valuable for experienced lawyers who every so often wish to return to the basics, the sources as it were, and to measure their concepts of the law with these basic considerations. Given the vast field of law, it is fascinating –and indeed reassuring– to see that certain basic principles apply to all fields of law. In addition, I believe that this book will provide stimulating reading for laypersons who wish to see what “law is all about.”I wish this wonderful text the success which it duly and truly deserves.