Maritime Neutrality to 1780. A History of the Main Principles.

ISBN-13: 9781584770275; ISBN-10: 1584770279. Kulsrud, Carl J. Maritime Neutrality to 1780. A History of the Main Principles Governing Neutrality and Belligerency to 1780. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1936. x, 351 pp. Reprinted 2000 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 9781584770275. Attractive smyth-sewn navy blue cloth with gilt stamped red labels on spine and front cover. New. $65. * A definitive legal history charting the complex jurisprudence of naval warfare and neutral trade leading up to the tipping point of 18th-century global conflict. Kulsrud traces the evolution of customary laws and maritime codes away from the medieval Consolato del Mare-which favored belligerents-toward the modern doctrine of "free ships make free goods." The work provides a meticulous analysis of early prize law, admiralty court adjudications, the mechanics of blockades, and the historically volatile definition of wartime contraband. Crucially, it documents the legal friction points that directly incited Catherine the Great to form the First League of Armed Neutrality in 1780, an alliance that fundamentally challenged British naval hegemony during the American Revolutionary War. An essential resource for collections focusing on international law, admiralty history, and the early legal blueprints that shaped American neutrality policies under George Washington.…