1 In his introduction, editor Peter Neill holds forth with historical jingoism of sorts before separating the various aspects of maritime history into eight themes: fishing and farming; voyages of exploration; maritime technology; navigation and science; naval warfare; ports and trade; migration; and the community of the sea. At the same time, he briefly reviews how these themes are dealt with by the chosen museums:

The bulk of the book is taken up by case histories and brief descriptions of these institutions by their Directors or Curators. I can visualize the authors sweating over the short articles whose length does not give them a chance to tell the full story of their museums, their ambitions, frustrations and the "behind the scenes" labours carried out by a faithful staff. As a result, these well-written articles are actually no more than expanded propaganda pieces as found in museum brochures and leaflets.

2 And then what makes a maritime museum great? Is a museum judged by the space it occupies — for example, the Australian Maritime Museum with its gorgeous quarters but limited collections — or does a museum make the grade if it is well enough endowed to take part in this publishing venture? I know of many more museums that equal or exceed the criteria of the editors, such as the Sjöfartsmuseet in Göteborg, Sweden, the Fiskeri-og Sjöfartsmuseet in Esbjerg, Denmark, the Maritime Museum in Singapore, the Museo Naval de la Nacion in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Polish Maritime Museum in Gdansk, Poland, and many others — every one of them a great museum in its own setting, with splendid collections and doing good work.

3 It would have been helpful, especially to MHR readers, if the editors had, at least, included a list of all existing maritime museums, their addresses, and brief descriptions of their holdings and main interests: the result would have been a quite useful reference book rather than the present unsatisfactory overview.

4 Great Maritime Museums of the World makes a fine coffee-table book; with its excellent colour reproductions of museum exteriors and interiors, artifacts and museum ships this is a beautiful book. Solid binding and high-quality, glossy stock add to its attractiveness. I find it difficult to recommend the volume to any serious student of material history, however.