The Rights of War and Peace. Including the Law of Nature and of Nations. Translated from the original Latin of Grotius, with notes and illustrations from political and legal writers, by A.C. Campbell. With an introduction by David J. Hill

Huig de Groot (Latinized Hugo Grotius) is widely acknowledged as the first writer on international law. His work De jure belli et pacis, which Grotius wrote after escaping Dutch imprisonment for suspected treason, commands general appreciation for its establishment of codes of conduct in war and promotion of peace. Grotius argued for nations' free use of oceans in Mare liberum, and argued against Calvinist doctrines in an essay on free will. His brilliance won him a significant diplomatic role in western Europe, where he was particularly involved with French and Swedish politics.