Written in a personal and simple but not simplistic way with references to art, literature, films, and various statements and case law, it paints a nuanced picture of how the concept of war is used and abused. The book is a compilation of extensive doctrinal knowledge in all spectrums of war.
Maria Varaki, Leiden Journal of International Law
The book offers a forensic account of what international law has to say about war, drawing on a detailed reading of national and international legal instruments and dozens of legal cases. Clapham provides a comprehensive survey of legal debates, innovations and progress in the regulation of war. He pays equal attention to the causes of war--examining war declarations, the outlawing of war, the place of force in the UN Charter and the question of war powers--and to the regulation of its conduct, including the protection of civilians and other persons, the triggering of the laws of armed conflict and the question of belligerent rights in naval operations.
Alex J. Bellamy, University of Queensland, International Affairs
The book stands out as it comprehensively focalises on the legal dimension of war, whereas previous writings on war have covered its application in terms of policy instrument, rationalising planning and conduct of hostilities.
Atul Alexander and Sanyam Jha, Journal of Indian Law and Society
Here is an oeuvre which is at one and the same time a law book (you could teach a course out of it) and a book about the law (it does so much more than simply outline the law of armed conflict both jus ad and jus in). It contextualizes it, historicizes it, makes it human in its inhumanity (wonderful chapter on victims) ... If you are new to the subject (hard to imagine among readers of EJIL and ICON...) you could not find a better introduction. If you are an old hand, you will both profit and enjoy, maybe with a tinge of jealousy.
J. H. H. Weiler, New York University School of Law, ICONnect
The book War by law professor Andrew Clapham is a flash of light. It is a flash of light not only because it reveals the oft-neglected meanings of international rules on war, but also because it organically depicts the essential logics of functioning of the modern laws of war and patiently deals with its intrinsic aporias.
Martino Tognocchi, Global Intellectual History