In the interwar years, a group of reform-minded American scholars of international law, such as Quincy Wright and Manley Hudson, challenged traditional international law and strove to establish a 'new' international law in which outlawry of war was institutionalized. They highly valued the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Kellogg–Briand Pact and presented legal arguments in support of them. These scholars were activists in their efforts to promote their views to policy makers and the public. In the US international law community, however, a different group of scholars, notably Edwin Borchard, vehemently opposed the progressive scholars. US International Lawyers in the Interwar Years chronicles those involved in the debate and provides a detailed account of their scholarly works and activities that hitherto have not had the recognition that they deserve.

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Marjorie M Whiteman (1898–1996) served at the United States Department of State from 1929 to 1970. During her tenure, she served ten Secretaries of State. Her original specialization was ‘damage in international law’, yet her participation in the League of Nations Codification Conference of 1930 broadened her expertise in international legislation. In 1946, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt asked Whiteman to assist in the drafting of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Her major accomplishment lay in the first United Nations Conference on the Laws of the Sea in 1958. At the 1958 Conference, her role was paramount in negotiating and reaching an agreement on the Convention on the Continental Shelf. In addition to the practical contribution to the development of international legislation, Whiteman edited fifteen volumes of Digest of International Law, acclaimed as a monumental work indispensable for international lawyers. In 1985 the American Society of International Law awarded her the Manley O Hudson medal, the first American woman that received such an honor.