The Law of Strangers: Jewish Lawyers and International Law in the Twentieth Century

From the Nuremberg Trials to contemporary human rights, Jews have long played prominent roles in the making of international law. But the actual ties between Jewish heritage and legal thought remain a subject of mystery and conjecture even among specialists.

This volume of biographical studies takes a unique interdisciplinary approach, pairing historians and legal scholars to explore how their Jewish identities and experiences shaped their legal thought and activism. Using newly-discovered sources and sophisticated interpretative methods, this book offers an alternative history of twentieth-century international legal profession – and a new model to the emerging field of international legal biography.

• Will present engaging biographical case studies that expand knowledge of key historical figures while contributing to larger questions about Jews and law
• Will engage legal specialists, historians, and other scholars interested in the questions of religion, ethnicity, politics, and international law.
• Illuminates the state of the field, and the emerging new directions in legal history, international law, and society studies.