I was delighted to be asked to review the latest edition of Rosemary Jay’s leading practitioner textbook. If one were only permitted to save one book on data protection law with which to rebuild after some cataclysm, it would be the most recent edition of Data Protection Law and Practice.(1)

The fourth edition, published in 2012, was an impressive work, combining the detail and depth required by practitioners of all kinds with a reflective scholarly approach that gave time to the aims and history of data protection law. It dealt with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, with a 2014 supplement and 2017 companion guide to the GDPR. This new 5th edition is an even more impressive work, building on these achievements. This is because it has updated its contents in the turbulent times of the GDPR, Brexit and Covid-19, without sacrificing the clarity, depth and detail of previous editions. The eye for detail alongside comprehensive, encyclopaedic knowledge of data protection law make this a treasure-trove reference work for practitioners, academics and officials. The materials have been skilfully reorganised to reflect changes resulting from the GDPR and Brexit while maintaining features familiar to those who have used the 4th edition. The book’s structure and use of tables make it very easy to navigate as a reference work.