" The European colonial powers imposed their land laws on many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These were often at variance with indigenous customs regulating land use. After attaining independence the new states mostly adhered to the colonial laws and did not revert to earlier customary law. The present volume contains contributions to a conference supported by the European Science Foundation and held at the Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg in November 1991. The countries discussed by the authors include several West African states, India and Indonesia in Asia and Mexico and Surinam in Latin America. The volume should be of interest to anthropologists and historians as well as to law scholars. Dietmar Rothermund ist Professor für die Geschichte Südasiens am Südasien-Institut der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Jap de Moor arbeitet am Centre for the History of European Expansion, Universität Leiden, Niederlande. "