The new textbook by Shumilov V.M. stands out among more than twenty other textbooks on international law. Apart from the distinction of the book in organization of its content it also dwells on international law issues and questions of international law science, which were omitted or unnoticed by the authors of the other textbooks.

The following features of the book can be singled out. First, the author introduces the notion of "international system" which forms the framework of the textbook. Further the author separates the international system into several "layers": economic, cultural, etc. Second the author employs the concept of "civilization approach" which is nowadays actively used in liberal arts and social sciences. Third, the problem of the system of international law is elaborated upon. For example, the author advances the hypothesis that there are several branches and institutions of international law which are in the process of formation such as international administrative law. The book also includes such topics as state interests, ideological basis of the elaboration of international legal norms.

The fact that deserves attention is that for the first time in the textbook of this kind a list of suggested topics for PhD theses is published. Another feature of the book is that the author tries to avoid difficult for comprehension constructions and instead uses clear and easy-to-understand phrases.

The reviewer comes to a conclusion that after the publication of the new textbook by Shumilov V.M. the international law as a science and a classroom discipline will make a great step towards its further development.