The industrial revolution - and shipbuilding in particular - transformed Belfast from a small, lively provincial city into a fully-fledged manufacturing giant. The city took on the appearance of a typical nineteenth-century industrial centre, similar to many others in north-west Britain. Belfast and its surrounding region became very much a part of that larger British manufacturing economy which was the symbol of the imperial heyday. As such, it looked physically different to other Irish cities and towns and that, in turn, had implications for its politics.

In telling the story of Harland & Wolff, Workman Clark and the other Belfast yards, Kevin Johnston is in effect writing a social history of the city of Belfast from 1850 to 1970. By the latter date, as Belfast was sinking into the quagmire of the Troubles, the great days were gone. In common with many post-industrial areas, Belfast struggled to keep pace with the changing world. But for over a century it had been one of the great shipbuilding powerhouses in the world, and the city we know developed in the shadow of this enterprise.