For a general introduction to the law of foreign countries, you should search IUCAT for books. The Library has many titles that typically include chapters on specific subject areas, such as property law, criminal law, or business transactions. Despite their summaray nature, these books are often written at a high level, are usually relatively up-to-date, and are in English.
To locate a title, do a subject keyword search (using the advanced keyword search template) for "law" and "[country name]", and restrict your search to the Law Library. Entries for recent editions of appropriate works will appear near the top of your retrieval set.
Typical examples include German Legal System and Law, 4th edition (2010), by Nigel Foster; Principles of German Criminal Law (2009), by Michael Bohlander; Principles of French Law (2008), by John Bell et. al.; The Austrian Legal System (2000), by Herbert Hausmaninger; Introduction to Dutch Law, 3rd edition (1999), by J.M.J. Chorus et. al.; Italian Private Law (2007), by G. Alpa et. al. The Library's collection includes many additional titles on a variety of jurisdictions.
Note that IUCAT will often include a link to the table of contents, so that you will be able to judge the relevance of the title without even going into the stacks to retrieve it.
Law review articles can be a very helpful source of commentary, as well as sources of useful citations to other articles and to primary source material. There are many articles on foreign law topics in American law reviews, which are indexed in LegalTrac and the Index to Legal Periodicals. Once you have citations in hand, PDF versions of most law review articles can be found in the Law Journal Library in HeinOnline. Some articles are avaialable in PDF in the indexes themselves. Additionally, you can also search for law journal articles in Lexis and WestLaw.
Articles published in foreign law reviews are indexed in the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. In this index, it is possible to search by both vernacular keyword and English language subject heading. This index includes citations only, but many of the articles are available in the HeinOnline Law Journal Library or in the Library's print journal collection. Others can usually be obtained through inter-library loan. HeinOnline has recently issued a specialized research guide to help you search the Index to Foreign Legal Periodials.
You may also find articles of interest in broader indexes, such as Academic Search Premier, which indexes more than 4500 journals in all subject areas. Many of the articles are available in PDF directly through the index. Helpful search features include subject headings and keyword-searchable abstracts.
The Szladits bibliography began publication in 1955, but coverage goes back to 1790. The bibliography indexes books written in English on foreign and comparative law subjects. Originally coverage excluded common law subjects, but eventually coveragae was broadened to include common law as well as other legal systems. Main entries are organized by subject and jurisdiction, and many entries include brief abstracts. Up to 1997, the bibliography included articles as well as books. This is a comprehensive source, but only up-to-date through 1998 (Law Indexes K38 .S9).