Only a decade ago, maritime legal publishing seemed somewhat tired. The judicial and legislative authorities were substantial and continued to grow. And, whatever the ups and downs of the market, international trade remained as important as it had ever been. But there did not seem to be as many books as might have been expected, possibly because of the apparent comprehensiveness of the British Shipping Laws series. Now, there seems to be an almost uncontrollable expansion in this area, providing original materials and commentaries on both English and foreign maritime law. Overlapping publications evidence keen competition among rival publishers for this presumably lucrative market. That, no doubt, is a good thing if it provides greater opportunity for selecting the most suitable of a number of similar books with a common theme. In the nature of things, however, books are not usually directly comparable, so that the choice is either to go without or to be satisfied with the range of knowledge that one can, or feels one has to, have at one’s disposal.

Of these three new looseleaf works, the Maritime Law Handbook is intended to deal essentially with different subject-matter from the other two, being concerned with arrest, registration, mortgages and enforced sales of vessels—albeit only the arrest sections were available with the initial publication, under review. In fact, the collection is not a new venture, being equivalent to a second edition of hardback volumes on the same four subjects, prepared a few years ago, as is the current compilation, under the auspices of Committee “A” of the Section on Business Law of the International Bar Association. The main aim is to provide a ready reference work to the national laws in a number of jurisdictions: 49 are listed in the contents, of which 11 are represented in the original issue. Each jurisdiction is accorded a pithy description of the essential features of its law by a local practitioner.

Thus, the arrest law of England and Wales is outlined in 29 pages in 24 “chapters.” There is in this a manifest lack of detail, so no-one consulting the book can sensibly assume a complete and accurate grasp of the local law. What is provided, however, is done so informatively and with great clarity, so the book should provide a useful and highly convenient introduction to the practical procedure for arrests in other jurisdictions. In addition, the book begins with an international section containing the texts of a selection of international conventions together with updated schedules of accession, ratifications and denunciation.

Transport: International Transport Treaties is also in the nature of a second edition (of a 1974 publication) but in a much improved version. Containing both English and French