This volume investigates the intellectual and professional impact of German-speaking legal scholars who fled Nazi persecution to establish careers within the English legal system. The authors, Jack Beatson and Reinhard Zimmermann, utilize biographical data and legal analysis to document how these nineteen émigré jurists navigated the transition from civil law traditions to the common law framework of Britain. By examining their academic output and institutional influence, the text argues that these individuals were instrumental in shaping modern English legal scholarship and practice.

Legal historians identify this work as a foundational study regarding the migration of intellectual capital during the twentieth century. Scholars frequently note the meticulous archival research and the clarity with which the authors bridge the gap between continental legal theory and English jurisprudence.