The book is the first to detail the 170-year evolution of the powered bulk carriers which continue to have a major role in the world's trades and economies. Their design and technological development is traced from the screw colliers of the 1850s which revolutionised the British coastal coal trade. The same engineering principles were applied to produce ocean-going steam and later motor tramps. By the end of the 19th century, the capabilities and economies of these 'black freighters' had captured from the sailing ship much of the world's trade in bulk commodities. In the second half of the 20th century, the tramps in turn evolved into multi-purpose, dry bulk carriers. These workhorses of the sea transport commodities including metallic ores, grain, coal, timber and other minerals. Quantities of up to 400,000 tons are carried in the largest, specialised ore carriers. In a parallel development, applying the same technical principles produced smaller yet efficient steam and later motor coasters which came to dominate short sea shipping. The book concludes with a discussion of how the economies of transportation provided by bulk carriers have had profound effects on industrialisation, globalisation and the world's economy, and discusses the environmental impact of these ships.

Basil Feilden was a gifted photographers who recorded Mersey shipping during its most glorious years. This album presents 127 of his best post-war images.

G & J Burns and the Laird Line date back to the origins of regular steamer sailings. Burns and Laird went on to become an institution on Irish Sea routes, surviving until the 1970s. Includes over 200 photographs with details of the ships shown. The photographic record is complete for Burns and Laird Ltd which became part of the Coast Lines Group in 1922.

Fleet in Focus; Shell's Gibraltar Oil Hunks; Record Reviews; Bosun's Locker; His Master's Ghost; Hopemount Shipping Co Ltd; Putting the Record Straight; French Bounty Ship Boom 1897-1902; South West Scenes.

Elder Dempster Postwar: Part 3 -- F & Later S Classes; Railway Steamers Serving France -- 1878-1952: Part 2; Grand Union (Shipping) Ltd; William Robertsons Gem Line Follow-Up; The Clipper Family of Reefer Vessels: Part 3.

Detailed histories and fully-illustrated fleet lists of five significant British shipping companies: United Baltic Corporation Ltd of Larne, Thomas Dunlop & Sons, Chellew Navigation Co Ltd and Glover Brothers.

Austins Chelwood Type Colliers; Hopemount Shipping Co. Ltd: Part 1; Fate of Fearless; The Hog Island Three; The French Bounty Ship Boom 1897-1902: Part 1; CMBs Congo Boats plus our regular features.