The Secret Treaties of History

About the Book

The Secret Treaties of History is the first general index for locating the texts of agreements that nations entered into secretly. It lists and explains 593 secret treaties made from 1521 to 2000 among 110 nations and political entities. Each secret treaty entry in the list has the treaty’s title, its contracting states, the city and date of signature, a citation to at least one source of text and/or credible information, and an annotation for its background or content. Most of these treaties were concluded for political or military ends. They are found among scores of treaty collections, in documentaries, in government reports, in research reports based on scholarly work in archives, in a small number of history books, and in articles in learned journals and articles by investigative journalists. The entire list, which makes up Chapter 1, is indexed by nation. It will be of direct use to professors and students of history, political science, and international law and, of course, to librarians and journalists.

Chapter 2 is a guide to the many sources of secret treaty texts cited to in the first chapter. Chapter 3 is an annotated bibliography for the study of secret diplomacy and secret agreement–making and for statements (including denials) made by American leaders on secrecy in diplomacy and treaty negotiations. Chapter 4 is an essay on the characteristics of secret treaties themselves and their signers. Chapter 5 explains the legal rules that the American President must abide by when he makes confidential, unpublished treaties with other world leaders. This chapter should interest foreign government officials, legal theorists, and international lawyers. Chapter 6 consists of an introduction to the Treaty of Crépi of 1544, four pages of photocopies of the original handwritten text of the secret articles to this treaty, and an English language translation of them. Neither the French nor the Spanish Ministries of Foreign Affairs have a copy of this treaty’s secret articles, nor are they published in any other book or journal article. This text and translation will be useful to a historian or biographer who needs full information on Francis I of France or Charles V of Spain.

The appendix is an alphabetized list of foreign and specialty words, abbreviations, acronyms, idioms, and phrases found particularly within treaties or used in the treaty–making process. Following the appendix, are the two indexes, for Chapters 1 and 3.

The Secret Treaties of History is meant for purchase by research libraries, law school libraries, historical archives, international affairs interest groups, lobby groups, and European ministries of foreign affairs.

About the Author

Edward Grosek has Master degrees in Piano from the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York and in Library Science from the State University of New York at Albany. He has worked for Interstate Brands Corporation in Albany, New York and for Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Currently he is an Associate Professor in charge of the United Nations collection at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and he is the editor of the Rockford Writers’ Guild’s monthly “Write Away.” Most of his published articles involve government information or government publications. .