The Development of International Law

"One of the Most Valuable Contributions to the History of International Law Yet Made" J. P. Bullington, Yale Law Review This history is divided into three sections. The first, The Age of the Prince, gives the history of fundamental doctrines of international law regulating the intercourse between states on land and sea in peace and war. The second, The Age of the Judge, is chiefly devoted to commercial relations, the development of neutrality and maritime law. The third, The Age of the Concert, addresses the conference method of adjusting international problems, tracing its development and accomplishments from its introduction at the Congress of Vienna through the recently established League of Nations. Much useful information on the social and economic forces that shaped the development of international law is provided. Originally published in 1928, it addresses several issues introduced or modified during the First World War, such as aerial warfare, the right to search neutral shipping and the protection of minorities, and an early assessment of the League of Nations. Sir Geoffrey Butler [1887-1929] was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge and an expert on the procedures of the League of Nations. His books include The Tory Tradition: Bolinbroke, Disrali, Salisbury (1914), A Handbook to the League of Nations (1919, final rev. ed. 1928) and Studies in Statecraft (1920). Simon Maccoby, one of Butler's former students, was a notable historian of English politics and society. A prolific scholar and editor, his most important study is the six-volume English Radicalism (1935-1961). The most striking feature of this work is the method of treatment--quite the most effective which has yet been employed in dealing with the subject. (...) The author rarely, ventures a conclusion or an opinion, but when he does it usually reveals a strong sense of reality, and a thorough knowledge of the meaning of history. The compactness of the work reveals the immense amount of labor which must have been expended in its preparation. (...) Based on a wide knowledge of history, filtered through an objective and realistic brain, this book must take its place as one of the most valuable contributions to the history of international law yet made. J. P. Bullington, Yale Law Review 38 (1828-1929) 843, 845