The dilemma of how best to protect human rights is one of the most persistent problems facing the international community today. This unique and wide-ranging history of humanitarian intervention examines responses to oppression, persecution and mass atrocities from the emergence of the international state system and international law in the late sixteenth century, to the end of the twentieth century. Leading scholars show how opposition to tyranny and to religious persecution evolved from notions of the common interests of 'Christendom' to ultimately incorporate all people under the concept of 'human rights'. As well as examining specific episodes of intervention, the authors consider how these have been perceived and justified over time, and offer important new insights into ideas of national sovereignty, international relations and law, as well as political thought and the development of current theories of 'international community'.

'One of Simms and Trim's expressed objectives is to show the 'rich and varied' history of humanitarian intervention, which is definitely achieved.'

Kate Nevens Source: International Affairs

‘Humanitarian Intervention is both well-conceived and well-executed as an edited collection. The essays and editors’ remarks alike are integrated seamlessly, with enough contextual overlap to see the connections between chapters. Additionally, this book does not give the sense of a teleological ‘progress’ towards modern conceptions of intervention. Rather, the diversity of the contributions adds to the impression that in each case there were historically contingent decisions being made in response to local and international, as well as timely legal and moral understandings of humanitarian intervention.'

Source: Reviews in History

'… a rich and stimulating attempt to explain foreign intervention for humanitarian purposes.'

Source: English Historical Review

'… editors Brendan Simms and D. J. B. Trim have produced a critically important historical analysis of the policies, practices, and purposes of foreign intrusions in the affairs of other nations for humanitarian purposes from the 1500s to the present. … The single volume compilation is not exhaustive in its treatment, nor could it be, but its essays are historically and conceptually rich.'

Source: The Journal of World History

'The historic analysis is insightful yet targets certain issues within the intervention debate, which makes reading the book challenging and exciting …'

Source: The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs

'Within the vast literature on the issue of humanitarian intervention this is an extraordinary book. It sheds light on the historical development of this concept from the most varied angles and the insights it offers are in many ways enlightening … this book is highly recommendable for everyone interested in the question of humanitarian intervention and in the history of international law in general.'

Peter Hilpold Source: Europa Ethnica