Description: Ties the evolution of the idea of sovereignty to historical events, from the religious conflicts of sixteenth-century Europe to today's trends in globalization
Review Quotes: In this elegant essay, Grimm surveys the thousand-year history of the idea of sovereignty - emphasizing its changing meanings as Western ideas of political legitimacy transform themselves over the centuries. Grimm's work is the first on this subject that combines historical mastery with a sense of the present need to redefine our political understandings.--Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School