Specific performance or the remedy of damages?

Comparative law tells us that, in civil law systems, specific performance is regarded as the basic remedy for breach of contract whereas, in common law systems, specific performance is an exceptional remedy and damages are the basic remedy. Comparative law also tells us that this gap is not in practice as stark as it appears in theory since the exceptions on both sides mean that the gap is much less broad in practice. This article considers a particular situation where the English courts appear to review the damages of the appropriate remedy and asks whether civil law systems should give the same or a different answer.