It is perhaps reassuring that, despite the legal and political turbulence which has so affected the regulation of water and watercourses in recent years, this well-established title has remained constant. The new edition of Wisdom’s Law of Watercourses remains true to its predecessors in explaining the law relating to such diverse matters as the characteristics of watercourses and natural rights to water, coast protection and sea defence, navigation and fisheries. Considerable space is dedicated to a description of the regulatory role of the National Rivers Authority, including its responsibilities as regards aguatic pollution and the management of water resources, while brief consideration of the exclusive economic zone, the high seas and the continental shelf takes the book beyond the realm of domestic law. As a result of their brevity, the sections on the latter topics are of somewhat limited utility, as is the disappointingly brief section devoted to the influence of European Community law and policy (a mere 15 pages). The necessarily quite cursory treatment of United Kingdom case law (of which there is a great deal) also tends to obscure its true significance. Most obviously, the references to Cambridge Water Co. v. Eastern Counties Leather Plc [1991] ENDS R. 36 at first instance give no indication of that case’s wider implications. Those seeking an uncritical overview of disparate U.K. provisions will find this title a useful point of first reference. There are, however, more fundamental observations which must be made.

The Preface sets out the author’s objective of “steering the difficult path” between the demands of both preservationists and revisionists; he aims to satisfy both those seeking the