The publication of David M. Williams’ and Andrew P. White's A Select Bibliography of British and Irish University Theses about Maritime History, 1792-1990 inaugurates a new series of research publications sponsored by the International Maritime Economic History Association. The “Research in Maritime History” series is planned to include a variety of original monographs, reprints, translations, bibliographies, and research guides reflecting the broad diversity of maritime economic and social history. It is our plan to publish up to two such titles each year. While these will be sold to interested parties, they will be free to members of the I.M.E.H.A. We welcome members’ suggestions for future publications so that the series can effectively serve the maritime historical community.

We are pleased that this bibliography is No. 1 in our new series, for it promises to be especially useful to scholars. Post-graduate theses are essential to research but as we are all aware finding the proper titles is frequently difficult if not impossible. In compiling this bibliography David Williams and Andrew White have provided the first thorough guide to the riches produced at universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These nations have long been at the centre of scholarship in maritime economic and social history, and even a brief glance at the bibliography is almost certain to unearth several theses useful to virtually any reader. The scope of postgraduate writing in the U.K. and Ireland is truly impressive, and Williams and White have produced a convenient, well-indexed guide to its wealth.

It ought to be apparent to any user of the bibliography that the amount of work that went into its compilation was staggering, but the compilers and the series editor perceive that it will become an essential and enduring reference work. If this judgement proves correct, David Williams and Andrew White will be owed a debt of gratitude by generations of maritime scholars around the world.

Lewis R. Fischer

Series Editor