We would be better able to understand the emergence of the modern concept of international law if we were to pay more attention to the individual contexts of those that were writing about it, in particular the actual practices and political interests of international law that often existed prior to the formulation of doctrine, argues Toyoda (Akita International U., Japan), who therefore examines the lives and works of key figures, all European court councilors, writing about international law in the 17th and 18th centuries: Samuel Rachel, Gottfried Leibniz, Adam Glafey, Adam Ickstatt, Johann Jacob Moser, Samuel Cocceji, and Emer de Vattel. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)