I. INTRODUCTION

In a period during which alternative dispute resolution has become a hot topic in the legal academy, the comprehensive review by Ian R. Macneil[1] of the development of arbitration law[2] in the United States is a welcome addition to the body of scholarship on the subject. American Arbitration Law: Reformation, Nationalization, Internationalization[3] presents a detailed historical analysis of the United States Arbitration Act (USAA, or the "Act")[4] which serves several purposes. Certainly, judicial understanding of the USAA bears upon present day legal decisions, and the lack of this understanding has, even recently,[5] resulted in bad law. This book should prove to be an excellent resource for assisting practitioners and scholars in correctly interpreting the Act.

On a broader, policy-oriented level, examination of this topic also offers Professor Macneil an opportunity to present vivid illustrations of certain weaknesses he perceives in the American judicial process. A detailed examination of the reformation movement in American arbitration law and the processes and consequences of its nationalization "offer[s] a prime example ... of the dreadful quality of legislative history as written through the adversary process."[6] Inaccuracies in interpreting the legislators' intent can readily distort both current judicial decision making and the future development of the law. Furthermore, Professor Macneil demonstrates in this volume how the "bureaucratic formalism" pervading our legal system often causes policy considerations to be submerged by judicial inclination to follow the path of least resistance in making law.

Professor Macneil divides his account of the history of American arbitration law into three sections. He first addresses the reformation of American arbitration law. Against that background, he goes on to describe the process and consequences of its nationalization, and ends with a very brief chapter describing the internationalization of American arbitration law.