Gerry Simpson is a Senior Lecturer in the Law Department at the London School of Economics where he teaches Public International Law and International Criminal Law. He has been a Legal Adviser to the Australian Government on international criminal law and was part of the Australian delegation at the Rome Conference in 1998 to establish an international criminal court. He has also worked for several non-governmental organisations and appears regularly in the media discussing the law of war crimes and the law on the use of force in international law. Previous publications include The Law of War Crimes (1997) with Tim McCormack and The Nature of International Law (2001).

'In this important new volume, Gerry Simpson elegantly demonstrates the relationship between law and politics … Simpson makes an important contribution to both fields … this is an important work that takes our understanding of the politics and law of sovereignty to a new level. It neatly combines theoretical and historical analysis and provides a new set of concepts that are sure to become a key part of the lexicon of sovereignty in both international relations and international law.' Alex J. Bellamy, International Affairs

• Foreword Professor James Crawford; Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Introduction: 1. Great powers and outlaw states; Part II. Concepts: 2. Sovereign equalities; 3. Legalised hierarchies; Part III. Histories: Great Powers: 4. Legalised hegemony: Vienna to The Hague 1815–1906; 5. 'Extreme equality': rupture at The Hague 1907; 6. The great powers, sovereign equality and the making of the UN charter: San Francisco 1945; 7. Holy alliances: Verona 1818 and Kosovo 1999; Part IV. Histories: Outlaw States: 8. Unequal sovereigns 1815–1839; 9. Peace-loving nations: 1945; 10. Outlaw states: 1999; Part V. Conclusion: 11. Arguing about Afghanistan: great powers and outlaw states redux; 12. The puzzle of sovereignty.