America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939

America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939 is a unique exploration of the ways in which Americans have perceived, applied, advanced, and frustrated international law. It demonstrates the varieties and continuities of America's approaches to international law. The book begins with the important role the law of nations played for founders like Jefferson and Madison in framing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It then discusses the intellectual contributions to international law made by leaders in the New Republic -Kent and Wheaton- and the place of international law in the 19th century judgments of Marshall, Story, and Taney. The book goes on to examine the contributions of American utopians -Dodge, Worcester, Ladd, Burritt, and Carnegie- to the establishment of the League of Nations, the World Court, the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law. It finishes with an analysis of the wavering support to international law given by Woodrow Wilson and the emergence of a new American isolationism following the disappointment of World War I. For anyone who hopes to understand the important place of international law in America and the complex role of America in the development of international law, America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939 is a crucial read.

Mark Weston Janis is William F. Starr Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Born in Chicago in 1947, he is a graduate of Princeton (A.B. 1969), Oxford (B.A. 1972) where he was a Rhodes scholar, and Harvard (J.D. 1977). He served as a U.S. naval officer (1972-75), and practiced international corporate and financial law with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and Paris (1977-80). He first joined the faculty at Connecticut in 1980. He was for four years (1993-97) a member of the law faculty of the University of Oxford in England where he was Reader in Law, Fellow of Exeter College, and Director of Graduate Legal Studies (Research Degrees). He is the author of three widely-adopted law school books: An Introduction to International Law (Aspen 5th edn 2008), Cases and Commentary on International Law (West 3rd edn 2006), and European Human Rights Law (OUP 3rd edn 2008). He has also published more than 50 articles on international law.