Book Reviews and Notices : The International Law Quarterly: The British Journal of Public and Private International Law. (London: Stevens & Sons, Limited. Annual Subscription £1.10s. Post Free.)

• Date: 01 June 1948
• Published date: 01 June 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100216
• Subject Matter: Articles

192

United

States

have

been

so

long

familiar.

The

fifth

edition

consists

of

279

pages

of

text,

180 pages

of

illustrative

documents,

and

a

13-page

bibli-

ography.

Though

highly

selective,

the

bibliography

is

excellent.

The

docu-

mentary

section

contains

an

abundance

of

useful

teaching

material.

But

the

text

material,

in

the

opinion

of

this

reviewer,

will

excite

a

wide

and

varied

range

of

comment

among

college

teachers

of

international

affairs.

The

question

of

how

much

to

revise

is

especially

difficult

in

some

fields,

and

more

so,

perhaps,

in

the

field

of

international

organization

than

in

any

other.

One

gathers

from

his

preface

that

Professor

Potter’s

primary

pur-

pose

in

the

fifth

edition

was

to

produce

an

analytical

critique

of

inter-

national

organization

rather

than

a

descriptive

textbook.

Granting

that

he

has

succeeded

in

his

purpose,

the

question

remains

whether

such

a

treat-

ment

of

the

subject

best

serves

the

needs

of

the

instructor

and

the

student

at

the

undergraduate

level.

On

this

point

there

is

no

unanimity.

It

is

cer-

tain,

however,

that

regret

will

be

expressed

in

some

quarters

that

Professor

Potter

has

chosen

to

deviate

so

radically

from

his

original

pattern.

More

specifically,

some

members

of

the

profession

undoubtedly

will

feel

that

a

more

exhaustive

treatment

of

the

League

of

Nations

and

the

United

Nations

would

have

been

desirable;

some

will

be

likely

to

think

that

the

history

of

international

organization

has

been

too

sketchily

outlined;

and

some

will

re-

gard

the

treatment

of

international

politics

as

very

inadequate.

On

the

other

hand,

few

will

disagree

with

Professor

Potter’s

insistence

upon

the

study

of

the

basic

rather

than

the

current

aspects

of

international

organiza-

tion,

and

all

will

find

his

evaluations

and

judgments

worthy

of

deep

respect.

CHESTER

C.

MAXEY.

Whitman

College.

The

International

Law

Quarterly:

The

British

Journal

of

Public

and

Private

International

Law.

(London:

Stevens

&

Sons,

Limited.

An-

nual

Subscription £1.10s.

Post

Free.)

When

the

first

number

of

this

journal

had

been

published

in

the

Spring

of

1947

leading

international

jurists

welcomed

the

effort

undertaken

under

trying

economic

conditions

by

prominent

British

scholars.

Since

then

the

International

Law

Quarterly

has

established

its

reputation

as

an

excellent

professional

journal

solely

devoted

to

the

study

and

promotion

of

inter-

national

law.

In

addition

to

leading

articles

and

editorial

notes

the

Quarterly

features

a

review

of

recent

cases

carefully

selected

from

different

countries.

The

choice

of

book

reviews

and

selected

official

documents

con-

tained

in

each

issue

points,

it

would

seem,

to

an

editorial

policy

which

tries

to

avoid

the

impression,

sometimes

given

in

other

publications,

that

the

interpretation

and

development

of

international

law

are

the

monopoly

of

just

one

country.

F.B.S.