War Law: Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict Michael Byers International law governing the use of military force has been the subject of intense public debate. Under what conditions is it appropriate, or necessary, for a country to use force when diplomacy has failed? In War Law Michael Byers, a widely known world expert on international law, weighs these issues and examines the history of armed conflict and international law through a series of case studies of past conflicts, including the abuse of detainees at Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. Byers explores the legal controversies that surrounded the 1999 and 2001 interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan and the 2003 war in Iraq, the development of international humanitarian law form the 1859 Battle of Solferino to the present, and the role of war crime tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Neither a textbook nor a treatise War Law is a fascinating account of a highly controversial topic that is necessary reading for fans of military history and general readers alike. Michael Byers is the Canada research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of Custom, Power, and the Power of Rules, the editor of The Role of Law in International Politics, and a regular contributor to the London Review of Books