The 1989 Guide to International Arbitration and Arbitrators is based on a novel idea, which one only wishes had been conceived earlier. The book is divided into five parts, covering the most relevant aspects of arbitration: International Rules and Institutions, National Rules and Institutions, Codes of Ethics for International Arbitrators, the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards, and finally, International Arbitrators. The Guide gives a vast amount of information that will undoubtedly facilitate the practice of international arbitration.

The fifth part of The Guide contains an especially useful list of international arbitrators and provides information that would be helpful in making an informed choice of an arbitrator. This information includes areas of specialization, bar association, professional experience, and languages spoken, in addition to such basics as address and telephone number. Though the list is not exhaustive, it does contain approximately five hundred names; subsequent issues of The Guide will add more names.

While finding a suitable arbitrator for a domestic case is often not problematic, thanks to local reputation and the information that local arbitration associations can provide, finding an arbitrator for an international case presents a greater challenge. Information such as The Guide provides is not always readily available; since arbitration is becoming an increasingly acceptable alternative to litigation, publication of this volume is particularly timely.

Otherwise, the book focuses on arbitral rules and institutions, starting with International Rules and Institutions. The first chapter describes the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rule. General information about the Rule is presented, followed by its model clause, the text of the Rules, and a pertinent bibliography. The chapter includes such important information as which national arbitration centers have been using the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules either as their only rules or as an alternative to their own rules, and it offers recommendations to arbitral institutions and other interested bodies about arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules.