With more than eighty chapters, this three-volume work – described by the current Director-General of the World Trade Organization as an "outstanding contribution" to understanding the world trading system – is by far the most comprehensive study yet undertaken of the WTO.

The core of the book is the section on the legal framework of the WTO, which contains detailed legal analyses of the GATT 1994 and each of the specialized WTO agreements, as well as a discussion of the institutional framework of the WTO. The book also includes a number of chapters on the WTO dispute resolution process – a critical part of the world trading system – and on the growing phenomenon of regional trade agreements. In addition, the book contains sections discussing important political aspects of the WTO, such as the relationship between trade and the environment, labor, and human rights. A section on economic issues includes chapters analyzing the economic aspects of such critical issues as anti-dumping, safeguards, trade and the environment, and trade and labor. A series of country reports considers the WTO from the perspective of individual members and would-be members, ranging from the United States and the European Union to Mongolia.