<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>How can a promise be a lie? Answer: when the promisor never intended to perform the promise. Such incidences of promissory fraud are frequently litigated because they can result in punitive damages awards. And an insincere promisor can even be held criminally liable. Yet courts have provided little guidance about what the scope of liability should be or what proof should be required. This book--the first ever devoted to the analysis of promissory fraud--answers these questions. Filled with examples of insincere promising from the case law as well as from literature and popular culture, the book is an indispensable guide for those who practice or teach contract law.<p>The authors explore what promises say from the perspectives of philosophy, economics, and the law. They identify four chief mistakes that courts make in promissory fraud cases. And they offer a theory for how courts and practitioners should handle promissory fraud cases.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>Jerzy Borzecki delves expertly into the Polish-Russian Borderlands in the immediate post-World War I years--perhaps the most fascinatingly complex place and moment in 20th century Europe. The research is new and the amount of detail is stunning.--Marci Shore, author of <i>Caviar and Ashes </i> --Marci Shore<br><br>With subtlety, Borzecki conveys the ambivalence of the period and foreshadows the diplomatic wrangling between the Communist and non-Communist worlds that defined the Cold War. . . . Highly recommended.--<i>Choice</i>-- "Choice" (9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)<br><br><p>"Borzecki brings tremendous new archival materials to bear on the treaty reached at Riga--an important moment in the history of European diplomacy and state-making following World War I. "--Mark L. von Hagen, Arizona State University; author of <i>Soldiers in the Proletarian Dictatorship: The Red Army and the Soviet Socialist State</i></p>--Mark L. von Hagen<br><br>"This book is a major contribution to the scholarly literature on the Soviet Union. Despite a range of publications in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and English, there has heretofore been no single work that exploited all of the available sources, including newly-available Russian archival sources. It is a scholarly work with an original and important subject, treated with exemplary research and balanced and convincing narrative analysis."--Timothy Snyder, author of <i>The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999 </i>--Timothy Snyder<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Jerzy Borzecki has recently completed his postdoctoral studies in the History Department at Yale University. He is a sessional lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.