Laws of War

About this Collection

The founder of the modern idea that the destructiveness of war could be limited by law, Hugo Grotius, wrote his great work during the Thirty Years War. It was taken up again during the Enlightenment by theorists like Vattel and reached its pinnacle in the 20th century with the Hague and Geneva Conventions.

Key People

Titles & Essays

Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty

Hugo Grotius (author)

Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty was written in justification of the capture of the Portuguese merchantman Santa Catarina in the Strait of Singapore in February 1603. The Liberty Fund edition is based on the one prepared by…

Le droit des gens, ou Principes de la loi naturelle, 2 vols.

Emer de Vattel (author)

A 2 volume work in which Vattel explores the application of natural law to the conduct of states and sovereigns. He discusses the rights of obligation of the state itself, those of the sovereign power, the nature of good government,…

Le droit des gens, ou Principes de la loi naturelle, vol. 1

Emer de Vattel (author)

Volume 1 of a 2 volume work in which Vattel explores the application of natural law to the conduct of states and sovereigns. He discusses the rights of obligation of the state itself, those of the sovereign power, the nature of good…

Le droit des gens, ou Principes de la loi naturelle, vol. 2

Emer de Vattel (author)

Volume 2 of a 2 volume work in which Vattel explores the application of natural law to the conduct of states and sovereigns. He discusses the nature of war, that laws of war, neutrality, just and unjust wars, peace treaties, and the…

The Hague Peace Conferences concerning the Laws and Usages of War

A Pearce Higgins (editor)

This volume contains the text (often in both French and English) of the major conventions concerning peace and the laws of warfare from the Declaration of Paris (1856), the Geneva Convention of 1864, of the two Peace Conferences in…

The Law of Nations (LF ed.)

Emer de Vattel (author)

A republication of the 1797 translation of Vattel’s work, along with new English translations of 3 early essays.

Read the Liberty Classic on this title from Law & Liberty

The Law of Nations (1833 ed.)

Emer de Vattel (author)

An influential English translation of a work which had a profound impact on the ideas of the American founders. Chitty brought it to the attention of 19th century English readers and it was brought up to date with additional notes by…

The Rights of War and Peace (1901 ed.)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s magnum opus on international law and the laws of war and peace. He wrote this volume while the Thirty Years’ War raged around him in the hope that rational human beings might be able to agree to legal limits on war’s…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) 3 vols

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 1 (Book I)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 2 (Book II)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

The Rights of War and Peace (2005 ed.) vol. 3 (Book III)

Hugo Grotius (author)

Grotius’s Rights of War and Peace is a classic of modern public international law which lays the foundation for a universal code of law and which strongly defends the rights of individual agents - states as well as private persons -…

Vattel: Life and Works

Related Links:

Emer de Vattel

Source: Emer de Vattel, The Law of Nations, Or, Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the Conduct and Affairs of nations and Sovereigns, with Three Early Essays on the Origin and Nature of…

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Quotes

War & Peace

Erasmus has the personification of Peace come down to earth to see with dismay how war ravages human societies (1521)

Desiderius Erasmus

War & Peace

Grotius on Moderation in Despoiling the Country of one’s Enemies (1625)

Hugo Grotius

War & Peace

Hugo Grotius on civil right being derived from civil power

Hugo Grotius

War & Peace

Thomas Hodgskin on the Suffering of those who had been Impressed or Conscripted into the despotism of the British Navy (1813)

Thomas Hodgskin