Judging Evil: A History of International Criminal Justice is an important contribution to the history of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) by an insider. A prominent French judge, Bruno Cathala served as Deputy Registrar of the ICTY (2001–2002), head of the ICC Advance Team (2002–2003), and as Registrar of the ICC (2003–2008). Following an analysis of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals that adjudicated World War II crimes, the book offers a broad perspective on the ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals. His last six chapters provide a rare first-hand account of the establishment of the organization of the ICC and key questions during its initial operation. These chapters represent an indispensable source on early decisions and controversies at the Court, foundational facts for analyses of institutional behaviour and negligence in ICC State-Party supervision (which has led to a string of later problems for the Court). In particular, Chapter 20 on the ICC Advance Team adds significantly to the literature. Cathala mounts a robust defence of the ICC, a ‘barometer of civilization and a mechanism that helps preserve our most precious asset, our humanity’. Even if the Court can reduce impunity of the powerful only to a limited extent, it continues to investigate their crimes, so those ‘who think it has had its final say would be very foolish indeed’. He observes that international criminal law provides a ‘few principles that bind humankind together’, principles that protect us from ‘criminal enterprises against the human condition’. He highlights the role of NGOs, ‘marking the rebalancing […] between the society of states and the society of individuals’.