Family law is without doubt one of the most interesting and challenging areas of the modern legal syllabus, combining a high level of social science theory with substantive law on matters as diverse as the rights of children, surrogate parenthood, adoption, domestic violence and the financial consequences of divorce. In this edited collection of key texts law is shown to be one of the most important factors in shaping and regulating contemporary family life, from defining 'what is a family' through to intervening to protect and enforce the right of individual family members. Given the importance of family life and family values, law and the family has become a highly sensitive political issue, and this richly varied collection underscores the value of a contextual approach, and the importance of empirical research, to the shaping of family law.