Any exposition of the law of multimodal transport faces some difficulty, given that it stands midway between developing into a body of law clearly demarcated from that of particular modes of transport and being an adjunct to the law concerning them. The association with carriage of goods by sea is strongest, given the prominent role of the maritime container as the impulse to the development of new forms of contract. How far then to draw on modal law? How much to focus on developing forms of contract and, as yet, only partially developed international rules? How far to delve into the technical features of containerization or analysis of the practical structure of underlying contractual relationships? How to present the whole in a coherent and usable framework? Professor De Wit navigates through these difficulties to provide a learned and authoritive study of great value which will clearly inform future thinking on the subject.

The work began life as a Ph.D. thesis which, not surprisingly, secured its purpose for the author summa cum laude. The book is the “commercial” edition, though it retains features of scholastic discipline such as the practice of including a summary and conclusions at the end of each part. Unfortunately a bibliography promised in the introduction seems to have gone missing in the transition. Fortunately, however, this is no great loss since there are copious and complete citations in the ample and numerous footnotes.

The book is divided into four main parts. Part 1 places multimodal transport into its general legal context. A straightforward explanatory introduction leads to a general review of carriers’ liability. This review contains a comparative analysis which is adopted at various points in the book. The author has selected the law of Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The choice is dictated largely by limits of language and materials, but it is an impressive and appropriate list. Particularly welcome is authoritative material on the new Dutch Civil Code. Included in this part are useful discussions of the standard of liability, most notably subjective and objective ideas of liability especially in the context of the concept of force majeure, along with important consideration of concurrent liabilities in contract and tort which have major significance in, e.g., France.

Part 1 continues with a review of the principal unimodal transport Conventions and concludes with developments specifically relevant to multimodal transport including, most notably, the Multimodal Transport Convention and the UNCTAD/ICC Rules which, helpfully, are reproduced in the appendices. Both the theoretical and historical background to the Convention is covered along with some of the detail. Of particular interest in this part is the discussion of the Convention rules which deal with the possibility of conflict with other unimodal Conventions. The author does not have much time for the view that the Convention will involve conflict, especially as unimodal rules governing multimodal transport may be seen as lex specialis to the Convention’s lex generalis. The difficulties are, perhaps, more legion than might appear. The conflict with Art. 2 of CMR for which Art. 30(4) is, in part, intended is only part of the difficulty given that there have been decisions