 Tort derives from the French word for wrong, tort as civil wrongs for which the law provides a remedy, but not all civil wrongs are tort, for example a breach of contract. Tort law is therefore the law which relates to civil wrongdoing, where one person may sue another in a civil court, usually but not always for compensation. English law recognizes many different tort. Our course covers some of the most important. One such tort is negligence. This imposes a duty on individuals to take reasonable care not to cause foreseeable harm to others. It covers a wide variety of situations, such as running you down on the road, writing a bad reference when you apply for a job or breaking a window by hitting a cricket ball for six. Other tort include trespass to the person, trespass to the land, deformation and uselessness. The function of tort law is varied. It normally provides compensation to those who suffer harm by those who cause it, but it may also deter some forms of culpable contact and in some cases it may hold the defendant to account by drawing public attention to the wrongdoing. At Cambridge tort law is taught in the first year. Our course is designed to encourage students to engage with a range of questions. First, what is the law? Students must learn early on to consult the relevant sources to describe the law on any particular point with precision and clarity. In tort law this is sometimes easier said than done. This makes the subject challenging but also interesting. Second, why is the law like that? To make sense of the law we often have to understand the policy behind it. For example, English law does not normally impose a duty to rescue another from harm. So if I see somebody about to fall off the cliff, I don't have a duty to warn her. Even if this would cause me little inconvenience and save her life. This may sound absurd, but it may be less so if we understand why. Imposing such a duty may unduly interfere with my personal autonomy in requiring me to act in a specific way. Another problem is the difficulty of knowing where to draw the line. If we accept that I have a duty to warn her, should I also have a duty to give a small amount of charity to save a child's life when I have been asked to do so? Third, what should the law be? Students are encouraged to assess the strengths and witnesses of the current position and explore alternative solutions. For example, some may argue that the law should impose a duty to rescue on moral grounds. Even so, they may support this only if the cost to the rescuer is moderate. So there are a number of positions that one can adopt depending on what arguments she finds persuasive. Total law is a dynamic area of the law giving rise to many such debates. This makes it a fascinating subject to study. Finally, how do we apply the law? This requires a careful analysis of the facts of a case to deduce the fundamental question. Then the relevant rules and principles must be identified and apply to the facts in a clear way to answer the question. Total law is a particularly suitable subject for developing the students' analytical reasoning and problem-solving technique.