In a perfect world the casebook would be redundant. Students would always proceed directly to the primary sources. However, those who teach law at undergraduate level are aware that, properly used, the casebook can be a useful weapon in the student’s armoury. This is particularly so with carriage of goods. The subject requires a thorough knowledge of an array of cases whose facts and the reasoning behind them often baffle even the brightest student. Moreover it is a subject which, though well stocked with introductory texts, perhaps lacks a definitive textbook. For this reason a casebook on carriage of goods is particularly to be welcomed by those who teach this subject as an academic subject. Martin Dockray’s casebook, published in 1987, filled this need with distinction. However, it has been out of print for the last few years and its absence has left an uncomfortable gap in this subject. Mr Hughes’ new casebook goes a long way to remedying that absence.

His casebook covers most of the salient topics of “dry” shipping law, including less obvious, but nonetheless important, areas such as general average. All the important cases are featured and the selection is very up-to-date with extracts from 1993 cases such as The Baleares [1993] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 215 and The Product Star (No. 2) [1993] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 397 (although not, surprisingly, from The Coral [1993] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 1). The extracts are long enough to be useful but not so comprehensive as to discourage further reading of the cases themselves. Perhaps the most valuable function of this casebook is the clear and concise way in which the facts and underlying issues of each case are set out. Students in this area are frequently disheartened by having to read cases where the headnote alone sometimes extends to three pages. Another useful feature is the introductory preface to each chapter, along with the brief notes and questions that intersperse the case extracts themselves. This commentary is particularly helpful in putting into perspective such notably