This work investigates how the League of Nations Mandates System fundamentally transformed the imperial order following World War I and established the framework for modern international governance. Susan Pedersen, a professor of history at Columbia University, utilizes extensive archival research from the League of Nations and various colonial administrations to argue that the Mandates System was not merely a facade for imperialism, but a complex mechanism that forced colonial powers to justify their rule before an international body, thereby shaping the development of the modern nation-state system.

Historians and political scientists frequently cite this work as a definitive account of the Mandates System, noting the impressive depth of archival research presented. Readers often highlight the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous examination of international law and colonial administration for serious students of history.