This book is written for LLB, CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law and BA students sitting examinations on English criminal law in their  rst or second year whether in England and Wales or outside the jurisdiction. It is hoped that persons with little or no access to law libraries will  nd the text helpful. The text is also useful for those studying for other quali cations by private study including distance learning. Extracts of law reform reports may be of especial use to such students. The book, which is analytical in nature, includes those areas of substantive criminal law which are traditionally covered on a criminal law course, and those topics are presented in the way in which English law subjects are normally taught. Criminal law is fast-moving and fast-growing, and there has to be some selection among topics. Criminal Law can be approached in different ways such as political, feminist, theoretical, and other standpoints may be taken. The focus in this book is on the rules of criminal law and criticism of them. It will quickly become obvious that the law is contingent, histor- ical, and in many ways controversial. There is no vast eternal plan. English criminal law is replete with inconsistencies, and this book re? ects those issues. Students must grapple with such dif culties, for a super cial treatment will lead to wrong law and low marks. Attention is focused on what is sometimes called the ‘internal critique of the law’, in order that such inconsistencies are brought out, and on those areas which present dif culties. This is a common approach in UK Law Schools, but it is well worth considering the approach which your tutors use. There are many areas of controversy such as the de nition of offences such as rape, murder and theft and the width of defences such as duress and loss of control. Indeed, controversy rages over whether an element of a crime is a part of the offence or part of the defence. The best example is consent in rape. Is it part of the offence or part of the defence? Students should not think that understanding criminal law consists solely of learning legal rules and knowing how to apply them to the facts. In legal jargon this is a ‘black-letter’ approach to the subject and one which has not been in common use in England and Wales for perhaps 40 years. The arrangement of topics may differ from the order in which the subjects are taught on your course. However, for the assistance of those familiar with older editions, because of the House of Lords’ decision in G (2004) some rearrangement of topics was made in a previ- ous edition. In particular, the consideration of intention and recklessness in the context of murder and criminal damage respectively has been abolished. This ‘unique selling point’ of the text was intended to encourage readers to focus their minds on the results that the accused had to intend or on to which he had to be reckless. For example, as an examiner I saw too many students writing: ‘the mens rea for murder is intent’. Besides being incorrect (if it were true, an intent say to touch would be malice aforethought, the mental element of murder), the statement reveals an ignorance as to how precisely the elements of a crime are de ned. Whether this experiment was successful is for others to judge. As things are now, namely the law has returned to the pre- Caldwell position, opportunity was taken to reorder the book. This reordering is maintained in the current edition.