The Enemy of All

The Enemy of All by Daniel Heller-Roazen is a cultural history of law, territorialization, the state, and self and other as seen through the always unsettling figure of the pirate, who by definition operates outside of all acknowledged boundaries and communities. It is also, therefore, a study of how the law seeks to define and therefore lay claim to elusive forces beyond state borders. Heller-Roazen's work, in this as in his other books, is both erudite and graceful, ambitious in its genealogical scope, and assured in its choice of detailed studies and micro-narratives. --Rita Copeland, Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania Classics, history, law, literature, philosophy, jurisprudence, and above all language--these are the archives Heller-Roazen artfully enlists for his story of the development and contemporary relevance of the 'piratical paradigm'. One need not concur precisely with the political finale of this learned and lucid work to be awed, instructed, and sometimes even delighted by its masterful unfolding. The Enemy of All makes an invaluable contribution to comprehending the altered terrain of international politics and ethics occasioned by the emergence of terror and rogue states. --Wendy Brown, Emanuel Heller Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley