This title encapsulates the complex history of Clyde shipbuilding in one volume. Beginning in the 17th century, the book discusses the earliest shipyards and methods of building on the river, moves through the age of clippers and the great age of sail to the beginnings of iron shipbuilding and Thomas Wilson's trailblazing Vulcan. The yards of the Clyde soon became the cradle of steam navigation and the ships built there spread the fame and prowess of Scottish engineering round the world. By the end of the 19th century, and well into the 20th, the River Clyde was providing the sinews of empire in the ships that carried Britain's trade, the liners that carried her people and the warships that defended her vast and far-flung territories. The book is packed with stories about famous yards and significant individuals and an exhaustive appendix of Clyde shipyards.