This book is intended as an introduction to the basic principles of criminal liability and some of the most important criminal offences. The offences have been chosen (from amongst the vast range of criminal offences) to illustrate clearly the principles underlying the criminal law; they also feature in most courses on substantive criminal law. There is a fundamental need for the law (and especially the criminal law) to be clear, and its content easily understood by the lay person, but first-time students of the subject often find its key concepts difficult to grasp, and the major textbooks somewhat formidable. This book provides a comprehensible account of major areas of the law and an introduction to the controversy and debate that are inseparable from any serious study of the law. This textbook was commissioned by the late Lady Oliver, who was a firm believer in the need for accessible student texts as an adjunct to large-scale scholarly and reference works. Its first author was Marise Cremona, who is now Series Editor for the whole of the Palgrave Macmillan Law Masters series. I took on the authorship for the third edition and have endeavoured to continue with the accessible style and the readerfriendly features from the early editions. These include a Case Notes section at the end of each chapter, which gives, in respect of the key cases mentioned in the text, a short account of the facts and decision. Cases that are noted in this way are marked with an asterisk (*) when they are first mentioned in the text. There are additionally Further Reading lists to offer a starting point for deeper exploration of the subject, Hot Topics which highlight high-profile and controversial topics of recent years, and Key Terms which introduce the key terms and definitions about to be explored in each chapter. The eighth edition of this book has required some extensive updating to take account of a number of developments, in particular, developments in the law on accessorial liability. I am grateful for the support of the team at Palgrave, especially Rob Gibson. I am grateful for the support and help of many colleagues and friends during the writing of this book, including Alan Bogg, Shazia Choudhry, Charles Foster and Seshauna Wheatle. Laurel, Joanna and Darcy have been a consistent source of amusement and help. My wife, Kirsten Johnson, has, as ever, been wonderful.