Customer Reviews

International Law Frameworks (Concepts and Insights Series)

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4 star:		(3)
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This book is a super-readable survey of basic international law. The treatment is thematic rather than technical: Bederman is content simply to outline the law and to put it in historical and political context; at virtually no point does his text bog down in exegesis of legal text or rules. For this reason, it is an excellent handbook for international relations majors or for law students embarking on a basic course in international law. On the other hand, it isn't a law school "nutshell": the text is too cursory to really help law students prepare for final exams.

Bederma's work is a very thematic, introductory foray into international law. You can easily read this with no background in international law, yet I would caution you that, as this is thematic and introductory, do not expect to get in-depth case studies or in-depth analysis of various facets of international law.

I do recommend this as an introduction, however, because it covers the important facets of international law, including a chapter on international law's development. Present are chapters on the law of the sea, war crimes, jurisdiction, and others. The chapters are typically concise, giving you only the information you need while often citing court cases relevant to the particular branch of law.

On the whole, do purchase this if you want an excellent introduction, yet if you are looking for more in-depth analysis I would recommend supplementing this work with additional material. Indeed, I believe that is the greatest strengh, in a way, of this book: through covering the various themes of international law, it can enable you to understand what theme best interests you, serving as a launching point for future, focused study.

This book is reqired for the class I am taking. It is very easy to understand. The Author gets to the point without adding a bunch of fluff.

Bederman is a wonderful professor and an expert in the field. His experience and knowledge shows, and it's great to learn from him.