"Reid’s book is [...] a superb technical handbook with a wealth of detail on the construction, organisation and use of merchant ships. [...] The amount of integration of archaeological material and especially the results of archaeological investigations is rare for any work that primarily identifes as historical and further strengthens the discussions here because it is handled so well. The questions and research avenues that result from this approach offer tremendous potential and are all areas in which maritime archaeology can make considerable impact."
- Jack Pink, University of Southampton, in: Journal of Maritime Archaeology, May 2021, Vol. 16: pp. 523-25.

"Reid, adopting a broad definition of and innovative approach to technological history, ably disentangles the complex web of factors that went into designing and building early modern ships, including economic, social, and cultural ones. His analysis draws on a broad variety of sources, including written documents, archaeological evidence, interviews with experimental archaeologists, and digital modelling. [...] this is a book I will highly recommend, both to those just beginning to dip their toes in the waters of maritime history and to those with a more long-standing interest in the field."
- Lena Moser, University of Tübingen, in: ISIS, March 2022, Vol. 113, No. 1: pp. 183-84.