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In the words of editor Duncan Hollis, The Oxford Guide to Treaties "is a big book" (at vii). Yet, it is relatively small and accessible considering its ambition to "explore treaty questions from theoretical, doctrinal, and practical perspectives" (at 4).
The Guide stands out from its potential competitors in several ways. To start with, it is an edited volume, not a single scholar's work, such as Anthony Aust's Modern Treaty Law and Practice. Secondly, it is not rigidly focused on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) (VCLT) (unlike the commentaries reviewed by Christian Djeffal in this issue), even though it certainly takes the treaty of treaties seriously. By contrast to those works that dissect the VCLT from beginning to end, Hollis' approach allows for consideration of issues important for modern treaty-making but not covered by the VCLT, including treaty-making by subjects of international law other than states, alternatives to treaties, normative fragmentation, the role of NGOs, and the domestic application of treaties. Moreover, as Hollis rightly points out in his introduction, many of the VCLT's provisions "leave a false impression of actual practice" (at 3). Thirdly, the Guide contains a worthwhile final section with sample treaty clauses, which serve as illustrations to the individual chapters, as well as providing creative or innovative examples to those who work with treaties.
The book starts with a treatment of "Foundational Issues", followed by "Treaty Formation", "Treaty Application", "Treaty Interpretation", and "Avoiding or Exiting Treaty Commitments". Some contributors are full-time practitioners, and many of the contributing academics have some or more experience in practice. Most chapters are meticulous stabs at the assigned topic, but at the same time are fluently written, well-structured, and accessible. Often they are no mere descriptions of doctrine, displaying a thorough knowledge of developments �
