The second edition of Dr Shaw’s book on International Law will prove popular among undergraduates. It is written in a straightforward style which, to a certain extent, belies Shaw’s examination, throughout the book, of difficult jurisprudential problems which surround the subject. It covers all the areas which are usually studied on a degree course to a greater level than the first edition (published in 1977) so that it can be classed as a course book rather than an introductory work. Another factor which will make it appealing to undergraduates is its price.

The book is divided into 18 chapters: The Nature and Development of International Law; International Law Today; Sources; International Law and Municipal Law; The Subjects of International Law; International Human Rights; Recognition; Territory; Air Law and Space Law; The Law of the Sea; Jurisdiction; Immunities from Jurisdiction; State Responsibility; State Succession; The Law of Treaties; The Settlement of Disputes by Peaceful Means; International Law and the Use of Force; and International Institutions.

Generally the chapters contain a reworking of established rules and, although recent state practice does receive some examination, it appears that those rules have not been altered radically in the last decade, since the first edition. Nevertheless, Shaw takes a sufficiently dynamic view of opinio juris (pp. 70–74), without ignoring it to the extent of the behaviourists (pp. 49–56), to be of the opinion that “instant” customary International Law is possible. However, he mainly confines this phenomenon to Air and Space Law, where there is a large legal vacuum that needs to be filled relatively quickly. His discussion of the development of a regime of outer space (pp. 286–289) and satellite communications (pp. 289–292) is interesting in this respect. The combination of General Assembly resolutions, treaties and state practice illustrates the flexible approach Shaw takes to customary International Law.

Other areas of International Law, on the other hand, develop more slowly because of the weight of established custom behind them. The Law of the Sea is one example of an area of customary International Law where treaties do not make an immediate impact. Shaw’s examination of the Law of the Sea in Chapter 10 is particularly clear and concise. He relates the developments contained in the Law of the Sea Convention 1982 and assesses the potential impact of this treaty on established custom. However, apart from his discussion of the deep seabed (pp. 337–341), there is little detailed discussion of the various conflicting political factions that vied for supremacy at UNCLOS III. The 1982 Convention is a delicate compromise between these factions, a fact that has been relied upon by the developing states to argue that Western states are acting contrary to the Convention by selectively endorsing those parts of the Convention that suit their interests, in the hope that those provisions will pass into customary International Law, while not ratifying the Convention as a whole, so that the parts to which they object, such as the provisions as to the deep seabed, will not become custom.

This failure to analysis the political backcloth to the 1982 Convention is surprising, for Shaw states that “law and politics cannot be divorced. They are engaged in a crucial symbiotic relationship. It does neither discipline a service to minimise the significance of the other” (p. 56). Problems of space probably restrict his analysis of the political and ideological back