The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad

Shaybani wasn't really out to transmit Malik's Muwatta'. He wrote this work of the same name because already in Malik's lifetime, it was clear that Malik's Muwatta' was going to revolutionise all the schools of Sunnism, and not just in Madina.I have to say this for those students of hadith and Sunna who imagine that this book is just going to be another boring recension of "the Muwatta'". There are at least two of these (Laythi's) in English; the Bewley translation is even free to download (also: Abu Mus'ab's recension, as of now available only in Arabic, differs little from Laythi's). Shaybani's is a different animal. What Shaybani did was to take an earlier version of Malik's work and to REACT to it, from the standpoint of the Iraqis.So if you want a snapshot of Malik's developing thought (from a non-Maliki source) - you need this. And as has been mentioned by other commenters, if you are a Hanafi and you want the first Hanafi response to Malik's work - you need this.I must warn that Shaybani did not always transmit the entirety of what Malik knew. I have found spots where what he transmitted omits what Laythi and Abu Mus'ab (and Shafi'i, etc) did not omit. The unfinished state of the Muwatta' then isn't always to blame for this. So be aware always that Shaybani is not of Malik's party! Shaybani has his own agenda. So Hanafis will not be able to do away with the full Maliki literature.As for how the editors and translators did with Shaybani's work: I don't have the manuscripts, so I can't speak to the editing, but I have no complaints with the translation. I would fault the footnoting for not taking enough notice of Laythi etc, where Shaybani made deliberate changes (or wasn't aware of Malik's later work); but if you aren't comparing it to the other widely-available versions yourself then to that degree it's your own fault if you mess up.The layout of this book is highly readable and the appendices give you a good-enough overview of who transmitted what and when. Arabic readers can go to Mizzi where they need more.