Carriage of Goods by Sea by Professor John F. Wilson

Abstract

Carriage of Goods by Sea by Professor John F. Wilson. Published by Pitman, UK (1988, Ii and 456 pp, including Contents, Preface, Tables of Cases and Statutes, Appendices and Index ). Softback. £17.95 (UK) . Until recently, the choice of textbooks on Carriage by Sea, suitable for the growing student market at universities and polytechnics, has been very limited, and a new type of book has been long-overdue. Wilson's new book is obviously intended to fill this gap. The preface suggests that it might also serve as an introductory book for members of P & I Clubs and legal firms in the City, but this is clearly a secondary market. The style of the book, and its competitive price, make it suitable mainly as a student textbook. Until now the market leader has been Payne and Ivamy's Carriage of Goods by Sea (12th ed, Butterworths, 1985), which has enjoyed a virtual monopoly for many years. The contrast between Wilson and Payne and Ivamy could hardly be more striking. Compared with Wilson, Payne and Ivamy seems very old-fashioned, both in its style of writing and in its content. There is far more explanation and context in Wilson , for example, and it would be far easier to use Wilson as a teaching book. One of Payne and Ivamy's strengths up to now has been its appendices, in which, for example, standard form charterparties and bills of lading are set out, as well as all the relevant legislation and conventions. However, the …