Grotius On The Rights Of War And Peace

Despite its significant influence on international law, international relations, natural law and political thought in general, Grotius's Law of War and Peace has been virtually unavailable for many decades. Stephen Neff's edited and annotated version of the text rectifies this situation. Containing the substantive portion of the classic text, but shorn of extraneous material, this edited and annotated edition of one of the classic works of Western legal and political thought is intended for students and teachers in four primary areas: history of international law, history of political thought, history of international relations and history of philosophy.

Since the nineteenth century, Hugo Grotius's 'Rights of War and Peace' has commonly been seen as the classic work in modern public international law, laying the foundation for a universal code of law. However, in the seventeenth century and during the Enlightenment, the work was considered a major work of political theory that strongly defended the rights of individual agents -- states as well as private persons -- to use their power to secure themselves and their property. Grotius's continuing influence owed much to the eighteenth-century French editor Jean Barbeyrac, whose extensive commentary was standard in most editions, including the classic, anonymously translated, English one (1738), which is the basis for the Liberty Fund edition. The present edition also includes the Prolegomena to the first edition of 'Rights of War and Peace' (1625); this document has never before been translated into English and adds new dimensions to the great work.

The Rights of War and Peace is a fully historical account of the formative period of modern theories of international law. Professor Tuck examines the arguments over the moral basis for war, and links the debates to the writings of Hobbes et al.