To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

Martti Koskenniemi is Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki. His works on the theory and history of international law are studied by lawyers, historians and international relations scholars across the world. He has held visiting professorships at many leading universities and he is Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Introduction; 1. Legal Imagination in a Christian World – Ruling France, c. 1300; 2. The Political Philosophy of jus gentium – the Expansion of Spain, 1524–1559; 3. Italian Lessons – ius gentium and Reason of States; 4. The Rule of Law – Grotius; 5. Governing Sovereignty – Negotiating French 'Absolutism' in Europe, 1625–1715; 6. Reason, Resolution, Restoration – European Public Law, 1715–1804; 7. Colonies, Companies, Slaves – French dominium in the World, 1627–1804; 8. The Law and Economics of State-Building – England, c. 1450–c. 1650; 9. 'Giving Law to the World – England, c. 1635–c. 1830; 10. Global Law – Ruling the British Empire; 11. A Science of State-Machines – ius naturae et gentium as a German Discipline, 1500–1758; 12. The End of Natural Law – German Freedom, 1734–1821; Epilogue.

'[This] book is so much more than a brand-new history of international law in the pre-modern era; it is a new history, it is an extraordinary piece of scholarship … not just a scientific work of the finest quality, but also an amazing literary achievement. … It contains a dazzling amount of knowledge about so much more than international law. It also offers new views on intellectual history, medieval scholasticism, the history of early modern theology, and the history of law, tout court.' Wim Decock, Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international (JHIL)