Let us say you are somewhere researching your great-great grandfather and he was a ship captain, and it was claimed he cruised too near to the coast of France, you can turn to page 72 (or wherever it is) and say "No sir, according to regulations of 1884 a vessel of 10,000 tons or less can cruise within 12 nautical miles" and have the final word. It is very informative and there is updating of nautical and navigational rules, letters and commentary, and important statistical data on ship and shipping tonnage. Missing the back cover and the front is only taped on, Fair condition, a little water damage to the last few pages, but complete including index and capable of serving as a reference for some time, it is overall not brittle. 164 pages, about 5 3/4" x 9". Really low starting price so if anyone wants this jump on it.