The Life of Hersch Lauterpacht

Description

Hersch Lauterpacht, of whom this book is an intimate biography by his son, Elihu, was one of the most prolific and influential international lawyers of the first half of the twentieth century. Having come to England from Austria in the early 1920s, he first researched and taught at the London School of Economics before moving to Cambridge in 1937 to become Whewell Professor of International Law. He did valuable work to enhance relations with the United States during the Second World War and was active after the war in the prosecution of William Joyce and the major Nazi war criminals. For ten years he was also involved in various significant items of professional work and in 1955 he was elected a judge of the International Court of Justice. The book contains many extracts from his correspondence, the interest of which will extend to lawyers, historians of the period and beyond.

Review of the hardback: 'Hersch Lauterpacht was widely and rightly regarded as the greatest international legal scholar of the twentieth century. His brilliant if too brief tenure as a judge of the International Court of Justice matched his scholarly attainments. His son Elihu has now written a superb biography of his father that will attract the admiration of the international legal fraternity of the twenty-first century.' Stephen M. Schwebel, Former President of the International Court of Justice (1981-2000) 'Hersch Lauterpacht is a highly interesting subject, and the biography is well written. It should be of great interest not only to those who are interested in the history of international law, but to anyone who want to understand the travails and motivations of one of its major personalities, whose works still resonate.' Sondre Torp Helmersen, Nordic Journal of International Law