If you’re picking up Heavy Metal expecting an in-depth look at shipbuilding, prepare to be disappointed. The authors spends far too much time pandering to social and political narratives instead of focusing on the craft, history, and challenges of the industry as the F-35 or Skunkworks Books do. Entire sections are devoted to unions advocating for racial causes, commentary on George Floyd’s overdose, DEI initiatives, etc – none of which add meaningful insight.
The book is riddled with high levels of political bias and TDS, there’s nearly an entire chapter about MLK and Malcolm X, the author treats this like a centerpiece of the story, as if it somehow defines the entire workforce, when in reality is ultimately irrelevant to the industry. Instead of exploring engineering fears or operational aspects of the industry, we get endless anecdotes about COVID and hand sanitizer and how MAGA hats are evil. This book isn’t about building ships, it’s a managed to about how the workforce supposedly pandered to every trending cause. If this portrayal is even remotely accurate, it’s no wonder American shipbuilding is failing and outsourcing to Japan and South Korea. After reading this, I almost feel sorry for the workers.