While the design and service histories of warships are well covered in print, there is no single-volume guide to the companies and state yards that built them. This work is designed to fill the gap. The core of the book is made up of potted "biographies" of the shipbuilders, describing their corporate development, highlights in their histories, and listing the major ships they built. The book is international in coverage, divided by country, by region and by yard, with maps and plans showing the main areas, the locations of the yards, and the ground layout of the most important builders at significant dates in their history. A general introduction points out the salient features of warship development from wood and canvas to the technology of steam, steel and electronics in order to explain the changes in the shipbuilding industries of the world, and a careful selection of photographs illustrate the transformation of facilities from a simple slipway to the modern covered factories from which ships are "extruded".