E.S. van Eyck van Heslinga is Director of Collections, Netherlands Maritime Museum, Amsterdam. J.A. de Moor is Associate Professor in History, University of Leiden. David J Starkey graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Economic History. He then gained an MA in the History of the Atlantic Economy at the University of Exeter, which led to doctoral research into the character, scale and significance of British privateering in the eighteenth century. Having gained his PhD, Dr Starkey was appointed Research Fellow in the Maritime History of Devon project at the University of Exeter, an appointment that was followed by two further research fellowships in maritime history at Exeter. In 1994, Dr Starkey joined the History Department at Hull when he became the holder of the first permanent lectureship to be dedicated to maritime historical studies in the UK university sector - the Wilson Family Lectureship in Maritime History. Dr Starkey is Director of the Maritime Historical Studies Centre at the University of Hull.