Off Shore

On the Battersea Reach of the Thames, a mixed bag of eccentrics lives in houseboats. Belonging to neither land nor sea, they belong to one another. How each of their lives complicates the others is the stuff of this perfect little novel. Winner of a 1997 Booker Prize.

The atlas of contemporary capitalism is curious indeed. A desperately poor and civil-war-wracked nation, Liberia, is the world's shipping superpower; the Cayman Islands the fifth-largest financial center in the world; land-locked Zurich a venerable "offshore" banking center. Indeed, it is estimated that half of the global stock of money passes through tax havens. The logic of the offshore world, where millionaires and corporations roam in search of financial advantage, is slippery. It challenges many conventional assumptions about power and economics.In the single most comprehensive account of the offshore economy, Ronen Palan investigates the legal spaces, unregulated and yet maintained and supported by the state system, that have emerged for purposes of international finance, tax havens, export processing zones, flags of convenience, and e-commerce. The offshore economy had its beginnings in the late nineteenth century, saw early development after the First World War, and metastasized in the 1970s. Palan believes that a rapidly expanding offshore economy is now producing a new market in sovereignty; states have discovered that their rights to write law may be used as a commercial asset. This commercialization of sovereignty, he asserts, undermines the legitimacy of the nation-state and supports a form of nomadic capitalism.

In the realms of both the marine industry and competitive sailboat racing at its highest levels, few if any couples have matched the accomplishments of Steve and Doris Colgate, the longtimeproprietors of the world-renowned Offshore Sailing School: With over 150,000 graduates, noone has taught more willing novices how to sail than Offshore. A scion of the Colgate family ofColgate-Palmolive fame, and the daughter of a famed, award-winning scientist, respectively, atfirst glance the Colgates seemed an unlikely match.The founder of the National Women's SailingAssociation, among other yachting-industry initiatives, on countless fronts Doris was a pioneerin a world usually dominated by men. Their shared tale is fascinating on several levels: as aninsider's take on yacht racing at its top ranks; as a case study in a remarkably unique andsuccessful business; and, finally, as a good old-fashioned love story.

Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics III comprises the contributions presented at the Third International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG, Oslo, Norway, 10-12 June 2015), organised by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI). The papers address current and emerging geotechnical engineering challenges facing those working in off

This study of citizenship and migration policies in the Gulf shows how temporary residency can become a permanent citizenship status.

A book about a tiny island with a huge history, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricane's Eye. “For everyone who loves Nantucket Island this is the indispensable book.” —Russell Baker In his first book of history, Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond its charm, quaint local traditions, and whaling yarns, Philbrick explores the origins of Nantucket in this comprehensive history. From the English settlers who thought they were purchasing a “Native American ghost town” but actually found a fully realized society, through the rise and fall of the then thriving whaling industry, the story of Nantucket is a truly unique chapter of American history.