4 Introductiontheir own beliefs treated at too little length and with too little reverence. Th ey
will be right on the fi rst count, but I hope not on the second.
Th e task, instead, is to trace the broad contours of the history of interna-
tional law from its dawn to the present day— for lay readers as well as law-
yers. For the benefi t of laypersons, the book is animated throughout by a
rigorous presumption that the reader will have no prior legal knowledge or
training. Th e history of international law is too important— not to say too
interesting— to leave it as the property of a professional elite. Moreover, that
professional elite has been scandalously negligent for too long in exploring
its history.
Lay readers oft en fear (with fair reason) that the professional jargon of the
lawyers will pummel them into incomprehension. Th at fear is groundless
here. Technical terminology is eschewed wherever possible— and, where nec-
essary, is explained as it appears. Oddly, the more serious problem is that cer-
tain important trends or schools of thought have no accepted labels at all— a
telling indication of the extraordinary neglect of this subject in the past. In
such instances, simple descriptive labels will supplied, and they will be care-
fully identifi ed as they arise.
Th e story is basically narrative and chronological. Th e fi rst part, taking us
to about 1550, traces the evolution of the various pragmatic rules devised in
various ancient civilizations. It then looks at the Eu ro pe an Middle Ages and
the Islamic world, and on to wider horizons, surveying the various legal is-
sues presented by the discovery, conquest, and settlement of the New World.
Th e second part, covering from ca. 1550 to 1815, relates the birth of interna-
tional law in its modern conception, as a law actually made by states (at least
in part), in addition to being a law that is merely applicable to states. Th e
third part covers the nineteenth century, or more precisely the period from
1815 to 1914— which is, remarkably, a much neglected part of the history of
international law. But it was an im mensely creative time, marked by the emer-
gence of the various rival schools of thought that continue to exist today. Th e
fourth part covers the twentieth and (thus far) twenty- fi rst centuries, with
their many novel challenges and innovations— and tragedies.
More broadly and briefl y, our story is of the quest, throughout human
history, to bring order and stability to international relations on the basis of
the (or at least a) rule of law. It is the story, in short, of one of the greatest
endeavors— both intellectual and practical— of the human species.