professional shipping historian formerly employed at Lloyds of London. The result is a worthy blend of vessel records, business history, and anecdote. Furness Withy 's origin s lay in Hartlepool, a busy northeast England port where several generations later HMS Warrior was to be restored, the commerce having drifted away. From an early date there were strong transatlantic connections. Christopher Furness had started trading with Boston, Massachusetts, in 1878. In 1892, the infant company jointly founded the Chesapeake and Ohio Steamship Co. with the American railroad of that name. It went on to buy up a whole series of shipping lines, establishing strong links with both North and South America. With the advent of World War II the company was in the frontline. Forty-two ships were lost, including the immortal Jervis Bay. The post-1960s were difficult years. Lord Beeching, who will always be associated in Britain with the axing of much of our railway network, was in all likelihood correct when he jibbed of Furness Withy in 1972 that it was "a loose collection of warringtribes."Hespokeas the company's then-chairman . Rationalization was painful and, in 1980, far eastern dominance arrived in the shape of the C Y Tung group. Another sale in 1990 brought a much smaller but still profitable group back into European ownership under the Oetker Group of Hamburg. It is a very considerable undertaking to weld together such a complex narrative in a highly readable form. David Burrell has risen to the challenge and been assisted by many worthy informants. ROBERT N. FORSYTHE Northumberland, England
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