His book _The Outlaw Sea_ was extremely good -- going into some depth about the ways that government try but have not succeeded in regulating the ocean in the ways that they control law on land.
He's a great writer especially on aviation. For example, his writeup of the mid-air collision of an Embraer regional jet and a 737 over Brazil (http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/air_crash200901) was nothing short of fantastic. It's well worth a read.
