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BOOK REVIEWS Paul C. van Royen, Lewis R. Fischer, David own work probably would have more difficulty Williams (eds.). Frutta di Mare: Evolution and seeing the light of day. The bumpy narrative Revolution in the Maritime World in the Nine- features personalities such as Oudeman, Bergsma, teenth and Twentieth Centuries. Amsterdam: and Rambaldo who the author neither introduces Batavian Lion International for the Dutch Associ- nor places in historical perspective for an interna- ation of Maritime History, 1998. 222 pp., illustra- tional readership. The overall result leaves much tions, tables, figures, bibliography. 30f, cloth; to be desired – fewer examples and more elabora- ISBN 90-6707-475-6 [payment to Gironumber tion would have served the topic better. The 390150, Postbank The Netherlands, att. Treasurer author's personal polemics against military and Nederlandse Vereniging voor Zeegeschiedenis, naval authorities detract from the scientific survey Laan van Arenstein 19, 2341 LS Oegstgeest, The and are so biased as to question the inclusion of Netherlands; or by Eurocheck or money order to the piece. In contrast, Art R.T. Jonkers' excellent that address, mentioning Frutta di Mare]. survey of compasses is thorough and interesting – a most worthwhile work – while Wheeler's Frutta di Mare comprises a selection of papers essay on the Battle of Camperdown (1797) under- from the Second International Congress of Mari- lines the impo rtance of climate on history. time History held in 1996 in Amsterdam and Edward W. Sloan covers so vast a topic in Rotterdam. The general theme of the Congress "Private Enterprise as Public Utility: The Man- was "Evolution and Revolution in the Maritime agement of Capital in Two Centuries of Shipping World in the 19th and 20th Centuries," and ses- Business" that, of necessity, generalizations sions were divided into three categories: "Nauti- abound. Sloan's unique contribution to the litera- cal Science and Cartography"; "Shipbuilding, ture of this era, in proving that the Cunard and Design, and Construction"; and "Management of Collins Lines in the 1850s had a hidden cartel Shipping Companies, Navies and Po rts." This which precluded competition, is relegated to a volume begins with Jaap Bruijn's survey of recent footnote. [18] Anita M.C. van Dissel provides a Dutch maritime research in honor of the thirty- thorough analysis of personnel development in fifth anniversary of the Dutch Association of the Royal Netherlands Navy (1814-1914) sup- Maritime History, and concludes with an over- ported by tables. Harry M. Lintsen surveys the view by Frank Broeze of all the papers presented. development of the Dutch shipbuilding industry Only twelve papers are reproduced here, however; since the "Golden Age" of the seventeenth cen- the other thirty-five presentations are identified in tury. After the industrial revolution, industrial an appendix at the end of the book. espionage frequently replaced invention, giving Conrad Dixon's piece on "Navigation The Netherlands most of the major breakthroughs Changes Direction from Art to Science" sets out and naval secrets within a few years of their to cover the enormous subject of the application occurrence. Dutch shipbuilders elected to copy of scientific principles to navigation over the last rather than innovate to which Lintsen attributes two centuries. Dixon presents a convincing argu- the ultimate collapse of the Dutch shipbuilding ment that Thomas Sumner's discovery of pos- industry in the modern era. ition-line navigation in 1837, followed by the Henk J. Wimmers provides a two-century efforts of Marco, St. Hilaire and T.S. Lecky, overview of the complex subject of "ship-building paved the way for increased dependability and materials" from wood to titanium but needs security. Dixon concludes with a plea for original documentation in the text and something beyond research among modern day fisherman and other a simple bibliography. Lewis Johnman's penetrat- seafarers before traditional knowledge vanishes. ing and thoughtful discussion of "Old Attitudes Lewis R. Pyenson tackled the prickly thicket of and New Technology: British Shipbuilding 1945- "The Prestige of Pure Research" in a decidedly 1965," might well be entitled "How Arrogance anti-government manner which he projects into and Prejudice Killed an Industry." The attitude of the present. If the antagonism of the state to pure British shipbuilders toward their clients, and research were quite so profound, then Pyenson's particularly Norwegian shipowners who were 87 88 The Northern Mariner ready and able to place contracts in B ritish yards, French C.G.T., the German H.A.P.A.G., and was condescending and regrettable. Equally dev- NGL, and the American International Navigation astating for the future of B ritish shipbuilding was Company, were all maritime concerns worthy of a negative attitude toward innovation in terms of international respect in the nineteenth century. If powerful diesel engines, large tankers and welded "the decline of British shipping was brought about construction. Johnman's tables are informative by the ending of the so rt of commerce in which and his conclusion that British shipbuilders bear much of it was engaged," as during the a large responsibility for the disastrous decline of containerization revolution, then you encourage this important British industry seems irrefutable. international cooperation and involvement in Yrjö Kaukiainen's excellent discussion of order to meet the financial challenges. To state "the Maritime Labour Market: Skill and Experi- that "the British government was powerless to ence as Factors of Demand and Supply" provides resist" flies in the face of economic common a masterful blend of literary and historical refer- sense. The role of responsible ministers should be ences about the nature and skills of the common to ride the wave of change, not to "resist" it. sailor. His analysis of age, length of se rvice, and Hindsight is wonderful, but effective government variety of skills builds upon earlier work and policy rarely is built on resistance to change. makes a genuine contribution to the understand- Hence, it is reasonable to have some serious and ing of seafarers in the nineteenth century. well-founded reservations both to Jackson's Gordon Jackson's "Ports, Ships and Govern- approach and to his conclusions. ment in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" Adrian Jarvis is a leading authority on the is limited to Great Britain, while raising general Port of Liverpool and has written so widely that questions with potential for universal application one might be skeptical about anything new. Yet around the world. Jackson puts forth four general- Jarvis has a nose for interesting historical data and izations with regard to maritime affairs: that the a dry wit that comes through in his presentations. object of government was to pursue the interest of His "Attempt at Reducing the Expenditures of the the state; that historically governments usually Port of Liverpool 1836-1913" might well be chose not to act; that any government decision entitled "The Career of Jesse Hartley and Its represented interference of some degree; that Aftermath." Hartley, a Liverpool civil engineer of there remains a public belief that government can considerable ability, rose to be Liverpool Dock act appropriately and benevolently upon occasion. Engineer and entered on a building spree that Jackson derides the latter view with pithy sar- lasted fifty years. Jarvis argues that cost reduction casm. He then proceeds to discuss some effects of was usually fruitless and ineffective. The result the Navigation Acts without reference to mer- was a steady increase in bureaucracy and paper- cantilism – which is a bit like seeking to reinvent work that ultimately consumed the financial the sail. Some of Jackson's broad assertions about resources of the institution. British taxation of Baltic timber during the Napo- Frank Broeze discusses his view of: the leonic era in order to stimulate Canadian eco- relationship between maritime history and mari- nomic development, and in retribution against the time museums; the relationship between maritime infant United States, are far too complex a minis- culture and ideology; the internationality of terial reasoning process to stand up under the maritime history; and the generality of maritime harsh light of his own view of inept and unthink- history – how it relates to history in general. ing government. Napoleon's "Continental sys- Broeze's fundamental quest is that history be tem" also goes unmentioned, but probably did honest and truthful, revealing the distasteful, as more to reduce the prosperity of British East well as the pleasant, sides of humanities maritime Coast ports than any policy originating in Lon- existence. Accepting this premise, for a publica- don. A quantum leap from 1803 to 1931 in a tion involving a broad international readership, single sentence, and to the Common Market in the Pieter Ceyl's special position needs explanation, next, is a bit much even given the constraints of a the "Tromps" need identification if the No rth and paper. Jackson's assertion that among nations South Holland quip is to have meaning, and having steamship lines "none would match the "Kapitan Rob" leaves the reader at sea. Since British expertise until the twentieth century was most of the participants in this Congress are not well advanced" is absurd. The Collins Line gave identified until the Appendix, Broeze's essay, Cunard a run for its money in the 1850s and the which generously touches upon their effo rts, is Book Reviews 89 comprehendible only if one reviews the Appendix extended economic zones in combination with the before reading the concluding essay. rise of aquaculture business have made the global Some of the papers in Frutta di Mare are fish markets grow exponentially. Morten worthy contributions to maritime and naval Hahn-Pedersen has for several years worked on a history and therefore command respect. Yet the business history on A.P.

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