Since the first edition in 1978, it has been acknowledged as the leading treatise on substantive criminal law in the common law world. It is a work of great magnitude and complexity, but it is written in an easy-to-follow style and format to assist practitioners of the law with the sorts of complex issues that arise in appeals. The work covers all the most important offences including white-collar and property offences.

This edition covers the entirety of the general part including complicity, inchoate offences, and the relevant defences. It also covers a very wide range of special part offences against the person including homicide and all the sexual offences as set out in 71 sections of the Sexual Offences Act. Furthermore, it deals with offences concerning Extreme Pornography and Child Pornography. Other offences against the person covered include Aggravated Assault, Harassment, Stalking, Abduction and Kidnapping, Female Genital Mutilation, Neglect and Ill-treatment of Children and of Mental Patients, Causing or Allowing Harm to Children and Vulnerable Adults, Neglect by Care Workers, Coercive and Controlling Behaviour, Forced Marriages and Bigamy, Spreading Infectious Diseases and Taking Hostages and Torture.

It also includes new chapters on a range of white-collar offences including:

• Company and Personal Insolvency and Bankruptcy Offences;
• Fraudulent Trading;
• Purchasing Own Shares and Financial Assistance to Purchase Shares;
• Offences Concerning Financial Services and Market Manipulation;
• Insider Dealing;
• The Cartel Offence;
• Bribery;
• Corruption and Misconduct in Public Office;
• Forgery;
• False Accounting;
• Identity and Biometric Theft;
• Suppression of Documents;
• Trade Mark and Intellectual Property Offences;
• Tax Offences; and
• Money Laundering.

In addition, it covers all the property offences and provides a sophisticated and nuanced analysis of each.