On the Edge of Greatness: The Diaries of John Humphrey, First Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights

Volume 1 (1948-49) covers the meetings in Geneva and Paris leading to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (of which Humphrey had prepared the first draft); the daily activities of the UN Secretariat in Lake Success, NY; and his visit to Strasbourg for the first Council of Europe. Humphrey details his interactions with international officials such as Trygve Lie and Henri Laugier, national representatives, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Pierre Mendès-France, and René Cassin, and a social circle that included Gabrielle Roy, F. R. Scott, and Hugh MacLennan. The Humphrey diaries represent an important primary source for the study of the international law of human rights and the development of the postwar UN human rights program.