Book excerpt: This book explains the existence, meaning and application of the rules governing the assignment of contractual rights. The second edition is updated and retains the structure of the first edition, focusing on what is meant by 'assignment', the distinction between legal and equitable assignments, how an assignable contractual right is identified, what formalities apply to assignment, and what rights and remedies are available to the parties to an assignment. In reviewing the first edition, The Hon JD Heydon said 'it is essential reading for ... teachers, especially those who teach contract, equity and personal property. Above all, it should always be consulted-read carefully, slowly and repeatedly-by any practitioner facing an assignment problem. ... It is not only the best book ever written on its subject, but among the best monographs dealing with legal doctrine published in recent years' (2008) 30 Sydney Law Review 169.