For 5000 years shipping has served the world economy and today it provides a sophisticated transport service to every part of the globe. Yet despite its economic complexity, shipping retains much of the competitive cut and thrust of the "perfect" market of classical economics. This blend of sophisticated logistics and larger than life entrepreneurs makes it a unique case study of classical economics in a modern setting.

The enlarged and substantially rewritten Maritime Economics uses historical and theoretical analysis as the framework for a practical explanation of how shipping...