| Inhalt Published to mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, this book gives the first full account of the story of German liner shipping to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the West coast stretching from Tierra del Fuego to Vancouver, from its earliest beginnings up to the present. The emphasis is on the activities of the two largest German shipping companies, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Hamburg-Süd, and their forerunners. The origins of German seaborne trade with Spain and Portugal and their territories in America are fully covered in the context of the history of the Colonial Epoch. The author builds up an impressive mosaic of the manifold political, commercial and cultural links between the Old and the New Worlds. From the early 1930s onwards, Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg-Süd also played a valuable pioneer role in the development of German airline services to the countries of Latin America. In 1973 these activities were upgraded with the acquisition of an advanced fleet of passenger aircraft. For the first time in civil aviation, in addition to its normal charter operations Hapag-Lloyd could offer a splendid range of air cruises to a variety of destinations, including many attractive places in Latin America and the Caribbean. With advanced ship technology and house-house container traffic, the future pattern of seaborne transport has also arrived in this area of the world. Full notes, an extensive list of sources as well as indexes of subject matters, persons and ships will help the reader to find his bearings, and may provide useful leads for further study of the topics discussed here. Otto J. Seiler. born in 1929 in Hamburg, trained as a shipping manager and ship-broker, and had from 1950 onwards been engaged for many years in the practical side of liner shipping, lastly as Deputy Head of Hapag-Lloyd AG's Central America West Coast Service at Bremen, before being appointed to staff posts at head office in Hamburg in 1972. His assignment as Deputy Head of the Shipping Policy and Planning Department (until the end of 1990) brought him into direct contact with the political aspects of ocean transport, with ministries, shipowners' associations, shippers' councils, along with research institutions in Germany and abroad. As a representative of the German Shipowners' Association, he also acted in an advisory capacity to the Federal government. Since 1991, Seiler has devoted himself solely to historical research and authorship. Among Seiler's published works are: " Handelsflotten einmal anders betrachtet" in the 37th edition of NAUTICUS (1983). The following volumes have appeared in the series "Hapag-Lloyd Liner Shipping Down the Years": AUSTRALIENFAHRT (1987) OSTASIENFAHRT (1987) NORDAMERIKAFAHRT (1990) "Der Panama-Kanal", focussing on its importance for international shipping (1988). "Bridge across the Atlantic" ? The Story of Hapag-Lloyd's North American Liner Services (1991). | 
