Frequently, books written about a select part of a topic (or market) present familiar material with a hint of new context in order to justify a fresh textbook in the area. It is no surprise to find that Julian Burling has not adopted this approach, and has provided an original and fascinating review of the structures, processes and governance at Lloyd’s. This is not then a book of English insurance contract law, with a splash of Lloyd’s. Of the 29 chapters, the vast majority concern the organisation and regulation of the Lloyd’s insurance market, with only a relatively brief treatment of the insurance contracts concluded there (chapter 11). Burling’s masterwork is fundamentally a book of the market, and not of the product, and finds its niche in this way.

Julian Burling’s connection with Lloyd’s is considerable. He worked as in-house lawyer there for much of his professional career and was Counsel to Lloyd’s for the key period of 1995 to 2010. During his time at Lloyd’s, it underwent significant change under both internal and external pressures. This text is written with the assuredness of someone who was present for many of the major transformations undertaken by Lloyd’s and who is perhaps uniquely able to chart the regulation and administration of the market as it operates today. The chapter on taxation of members is written by a second contributor, David Clissitt, a tax partner at Deloitte LLP and appears to be equally well researched.

The description of Lloyd’s begins with an overview of the current position, and an historical review (chapters 1 and 2). Somewhat perversely, the final chapter in the book then revisits one notable period of Lloyd’s history: its near collapse in the 1990s. This relatively brief review of the period and the ensuing litigation might have sat within the historical review, or otherwise provided some sense of completion, as a review of the issues overcome. As a practitioner-focused monograph, it need not have a narrative; but, in the absence of a sustained argument, an intuitive ordering of chapters would make sense. Alternatively, perhaps there might have been a meta-structure in the table of contents, with similar subjects grouped together more overtly. Given the breadth of the book, it would have assisted those wishing to dip in to the text to have grouped linked chapters by either type of analysis (regulatory controls or taxation) or by subject matter (brokers; underwriters; members etc). This is done for “Financial Resources at Lloyd’s” (chapters 17, 18 and 19), where those chapters consider syndicates, members and the central fund respectively, and for Syndicates (chapters 6 and 7) on “Structure and Participation” and “Standard Agency Agreements”, but not universally.

This is a minor quibble. The vast remainder of the book provides expertly written chapters with genuine depth of analysis and research. Of particular use is the detailed referencing of “internal” Lloyd’s sources, such as the bye-laws and market bulletins. It is unlikely that such a rich use of sources of this type would have been readily achievable by someone not steeped in the administration of Lloyd’s and its business.