Marine Insurance
A Legal History
Published on 30. November 2021
Book
Hardback
1538 pages
978-1-78811-674-9 (ISBN)
Description
This authoritative work forms a comprehensive examination of the legal and historical context of marine insurance, providing a detailed overview of the events and factors leading to its codification in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. It investigates the development of the legal principles and case law that underpin the Act to reveal how successful this codification truly was, and to demonstrate how these historical precedents remain relevant to marine insurance law to this day.
Beginning with the pivotal year of 1756, Rob Merkin QC organises his analysis era by era, situating the leading cases and emerging fundamentals of the marine insurance industry in the context of external events such as war, the growth of free international trade, and the expansion of empire. Offering insight into the origins of familiar legal principles in the field, the book provides a deeper understanding of the legal framework within which historical events took place and how this shaped both the development of marine insurance law and the political and economic circumstances surrounding it.
Key features include:
In-depth research by one of the leading experts in marine insurance law
Context for and therefore deeper understanding of legal principles in the field
An authoritative account of the development of modern law of marine insurance through its historical roots.
Legal historians interested in marine insurance and international maritime law more broadly as well as other historians of the period will find the depth of research and breadth of coverage in this book invaluable. Its grounding of important principles in their historical context will also be useful to practising lawyers in the field grappling with current marine insurance issues.
Beginning with the pivotal year of 1756, Rob Merkin QC organises his analysis era by era, situating the leading cases and emerging fundamentals of the marine insurance industry in the context of external events such as war, the growth of free international trade, and the expansion of empire. Offering insight into the origins of familiar legal principles in the field, the book provides a deeper understanding of the legal framework within which historical events took place and how this shaped both the development of marine insurance law and the political and economic circumstances surrounding it.
Key features include:
In-depth research by one of the leading experts in marine insurance law
Context for and therefore deeper understanding of legal principles in the field
An authoritative account of the development of modern law of marine insurance through its historical roots.
Legal historians interested in marine insurance and international maritime law more broadly as well as other historians of the period will find the depth of research and breadth of coverage in this book invaluable. Its grounding of important principles in their historical context will also be useful to practising lawyers in the field grappling with current marine insurance issues.
Reviews / Votes
'This is a monumental work which deserves a readership amongst insurance lawyers and professional insurers, and a wider readership amongst those who are interested in commercial and social history.' -- Peter MacDonald Eggers, The Journal of International Maritime Law 'The long stability of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 gives the impression that it is the culmination of everything that needed to be said about marine insurance. Anyone who wants to look behind the serene, unruffled exterior of the Act will discover that it masks a long and unsettled history from a time when maritime trade was hotly contested. There could be no better companion in exploring that history than Professor Merkin's endlessly fascinating new book.' -- Martin Davies, Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 'The book provides a history of marine insurance law from 1756-1906 and, in particular, highlights the fascinating influence of war and conflict on the development of insurance law and practice. This is a history of trade and conflict through the prism of law and will be of interest not merely to historians, but also to practitioners who need to understand how and why particular clauses were developed and the contemporary understandings which underpinned the drafting of the Marine Insurance Act 1906.' -- Professor Nick Gaskell, University of Queensland, Australia 'This monumental and meticulous work by one of the leading authorities in insurance law is the first to address comprehensively the history of the legal provisions and jurisprudence relating to marine insurance. Focussing mainly on British, American and European history, it will prove an invaluable and fascinating resource for all students and scholars across a range of disciplines who require a definitive exposition of the evolution of this body of law.' -- Chantal Stebbings, University of Exeter, UK 'Rob Merkin's remarkable book delivers much more than its rather modest title promises. It includes a broad-ranging history, both political and nautical, of three centuries of wars and alliances affecting English and American trade. It shows how war, prize, capture by pirates and privateers, blockades, slavery, and the depredations of Confederate cruisers affected the development of the principles of English marine insurance law and practice. Dense and detailed but easy to follow, the connections that it explains are invaluable.' -- Martin Davies, Tulane University Law School, USMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78811-674-9 (9781788116749)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Rob Merkin KC, LLD, Professor of Law, Reading University, UK; Distinguished Professor of Law, School of Comparative Law, Chinese University of Politics and Law, China; Honorary Professor of Law, University of Auckland, New Zealand; Professor Emeritus, University of Exeter, UK; and Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill, New Zealand
Content
Contents: Foreword by Dame Sara Cockerill Preface 1. The framework of the Law of the Sea 2. Marine insurance in 1756 3. War, diplomacy and the Americas: 1756 to 1783 4. Perils on the seas: 1783 to 1815 5. Anglo-American trade and relations: 1783 to 1815 6. Marine insurance in an era of war: 1756 to 1815 7. Marine insurance in an era of war: 1756 to 1815 II Volume II 8. Trade and diplomacy after 1815 9. Marine insurance in an era of peace: 1815 to 1861 10. Slavery and the slave trade 11. The American civil war and British neutrality 12. The Confederate cruisers 13. The Alabama arbitration 14. Marine insurance in an era of neutrality: 1861 to 1875 15. Consolidating the Empire 16. Marine insurance in an era of Empire: 1875 to 1906 17. The Marine Insurance Act 1906 Index