Edward Elgar Publishing Maritime Legacies and the Law: Effective Legal Governance of WWI Wrecks

The shipwrecks of WWI constitute a vast, dispersed and distinctive underwater legacy. This insightful book addresses the need to rethink how they can be protected, through an examination of both private and public international law and the conventions governing them. The recent centenary of WWI has prompted a shift in the way attention is focused on legacy wrecks. In this timely book, Craig Forrest considers both the development and current state of the laws that apply to these wrecks, as well as the issues that surround them, such as regulated and unregulated salvage and the potentially hazardous nature of wrecks left in situ. The author then deftly analyses the adequacy of the existing legal framework, in particular the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, to fulfill its promise of protecting legacy wrecks for future generations as historical and archaeological resources, memorials and, more importantly, as maritime war graves. This incisive book will prove necessary reading for all with an interest in underwater cultural heritage and its protection, including academics, practitioners and managers, government officials and policymakers. Underwater archaeologists and others interested in maritime law and naval history more broadly will also find its unique analysis useful. Review 'A timely piece of legal writing on maritime war graves, a topic generally neglected in the literature, offered by the specialist on this question from a law of the sea and maritime law perspective. Answering the main challenges posed by the subject through a masterful use of practice, jurisprudence and normative developments, Craig Forrest offers a complete analysis of, as well as solutions to, the problem of protecting these legacies beneath the waters that are simultaneously venerated places, archaeological sites and public properties of the flag States.' --Mariano Aznar, Universitat Jaume I, Spain 'An excellent and much-needed overview of the cultural heritage of the Great War at sea and its relationship to the law. Craig Forrest has produced a readable narrative which goes beyond dry legal argument to contextualise the archaeological and regulatory landscape as it affects nations and sea users today. An impressive, comprehensive and important contribution.' --Innes McCartney, Bournemouth University, UK About the Author Craig Forrest, TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, Australia