This book had its genesis in an invitation from the Executive of the International Economic History Association. Through its Secretary- General, Professor Joseph Goy, I was invited two years ago to organize a session at the Eleventh International Congress of Economic History in Milan, Italy, in September 1994 to deal with issues raised in Charles Kindleberger's recent book, Mariners and Markets. As might be expected from a scholar with a wide-ranging intellect and eclectic interests, Professor Kindleberger raised a myriad of questions in his short but provocative volume. While many of these will hopefully stimulate further research, to provide a focus for the session (and for this book) I asked contributors to focus principally on two related considerations: did markets for seafarers exist in the age of sail; and, if so, were they efficient? As readers will soon discover, I provided no fixed definition of the term “efficiency.”

The papers collected here were first presented at the Milan conference. But they are not simply a collection of conference papers, since the participants were all invited to participate on the basis of their expertise on the topic. Indeed, all had written on historical maritime labour markets or were currently in the midst of major projects in which this topic was a key component. In short, this book brings together insights from many of the most prominent students of the subject. Again, to provide some coherence, I limited participants to the North Atlantic, broadly defined. There is obviously a need for a broader exploration of the theme, but this is not the place for it.

I was honoured by the invitation to organize this symposium, since Charles Kindleberger has without question been one of the most important economic historians of the past half-century. Although he has not written extensively on maritime affairs, he has long been a member of the International Maritime Economic History Association. Moreover, he comes by his interest in maritime issues honestly: as readers of Mariners and Markets will know, like the recent Nobel laureate, Douglass C. North, Charles Kindleberger put in a stint at sea in his youth.