Through recent modifications of Dutch (1992) and English (1999) private law, contracts for a third-party beneficiary are in Western Europe nowadays considered to be effective and enforceable. This concept is, however, incompatible with both the civilian tradition on the continent and the traditional parties-only-rule of English common law. The purpose of this study is to show the way in which the problem of the third-party beneficiary was dealt with during the various periods of western legal thought and to discuss the subject from the perspective of present-day comparative law.This book is not only of interest for legal historians, but also for all who are engaged in present-day private law: scholars, practitioners and advanced students. Contributors include, Dabid Ibbetson, Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge and Hendrik Verhagen, Professor of Private International Law, Comparative Law and Civil Law at the Radboud University Nymegen, attorney at the firm Clifford Chance Amsterdam, and deputy justice at the Court of Appeal's Hertogenbosch.