Flying around on various airplanes, I've been reading a couple of books on topics in legal history that I've found enjoyable and intellectually profitable. One is Stephen Neff's
Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War. I have benefitted greatly from Professor Neff's earlier books in international law history,
War and the Law of Nations and
The Rights and Duties of Neutrals, and the Civil War book is no exception. Professor Neff (whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this summer as he is visiting at George Washington this term) is one of the most graceful writers in the field - he reads much less like a law professor; he writes as a sophisticated historian writing for a sophisticated but not specialized audience. He wears his vast learning lightly and without pedantry.
The second book is one that arrived as a review copy from Oxford, Mark Weston Janis'
America and the Law of Nations 1776-1939. Professor Janis is likewise an elegant and fluid writer, and, just having finished this not-too-long book, I'm enthusiastic. (It is usefully accompanied by his earlier book, which I read back when it came out in 2004,
The American Tradition in International Law: Great Expectations, which ran up through 1914.)
I am not an expert in US foreign relations law, let alone its history, and both of Professor Janis' books opened my eyes to a great deal of background. The new volume helps frame the history, finally, as it leads up to the era of the United Nations. It does so by ranging from international law's place in US 19th century legal opinions and diplomatic writing to the role of incipient Wilsonian international organizations - rise and collapse - up through WWII. Excellent book, congratulations to Professor Janis.