Despite being one of the oldest branches of maritime law, average adjustment and the principles and practice it involves are something of a mystery not only to lawyers who encounter this area of law for the first time but even to those maritime lawyers who have not through regular contact managed to build up a body of specialized knowledge. This is nothing new. In the mid-18th century the author Nicolas Magens (An Essay on Insurances, Averages and Bottomries (1755) vol. I, at 428), after discussing a number of practical cases and setting out numerous calculations showing how one arrived at the adjustment and settlement of general and particular average losses, was caused to remark that “we are thoroughly persuaded that the Lawyers of most Eminence will allow, that such Matters as are contained in the foregoing Cases, may be much better decided by experienced Merchants, and good Accomptants, than by Persons who have studied the Law only”.

The legal profession generally, and lawyers involved in marine claims more particularly, are therefore fortunate in having available an excellent and practical textbook on the topic of general average adjustment. Written by an author who is not only widely acknowledged as an expert in the field but who is also a leading figure in one of the continuing success stories of the unification of law in the field of international shipping, the second edition of The York-Antwerp Rules will be widely welcomed.

The new edition retains the central feature of its predecessor: a rule-by-rule analysis, with practical illustrations and references to leading cases and other applicable rules of practice, of the text of the York-Antwerp Rules, which govern virtually all instances of general average adjustment. The main changes from the first edition were necessitated by the adoption, in 1994, of the latest