This book is one of the 12 volumes that form Conway's "History of the Ship" series. Each book in the series is a collection of chapters, written by one or more authors, that are dedicated to the theme of the book. The object of the series is to provide an unfamiliar reader with a basic understanding of the development of sea transportation and its naval partner. In the case of "The Golden Age of Shipping", a total of 11 authors under the editorship of Ambrose Greenway penned this work.

Published jointly in 1994 by Conway Maritime Press and the U.S. Naval Institute, "The Golden Age of Shipping" covers the development and economics of merchant shipping from 1900 to 1960, although some of the writing covers topics that date from before and after this period. The book spans 192 pages divided into ten chapters. Beginning with a preface describing the Conway series and an introduction, Greenway arranges the first six chapters by ship type: passenger vessels, cargo ships, bulk cargo carriers, coastal and short sea shipping, fishing fleets, and service vessels. The remaining four chapters of the book provide background information on ship design and construction, marine propulsion, shipping economics, and ship navigation. Greenway also incluses a comprehensive bibliography, a glossary, and an index.

The structure of the book is complex as the chapters can stand by themselves--not unusual when different authors write each chapter. For the chapters dedicated to ship types, Greenway includes a table listing example ships and their characteristics. When appropriate, chronological order is respected. Unlike some of the other books in this series, there are no footnotes or endnotes. The book is extremely well illustrated with photographs and drawings, with captions for both that are meant to be read.

As is to be expected with this subject matter, time period, and publisher, which captures the height of British maritime supremacy, the authors are all British. Greenway has his authors concentrate on the naval architecture/marine engineering aspects of the book's time period, although there is that one chapter dedicated to shipping economics, always an inseparable part of the industry.

For a reader with little knowledge of the topic, the Conway's series is a great introduction. To keep the book (and the series) to a reasonable length, the writing has to be tight and the details limited, which is indeed the case with "The Golden Age of Shipping". Those interested in probling deeper into the subject should find the titles listed in the excellent bibliography. ( )