In the present paper, the strength of adhesively bonded lap-shear joints has been studied. Failure loads obtained experimentally have been presented and compared with theoretical predictions. Capacity estimates provided by traditional strength of materials approaches do not agree with experiments. On the other hand, results obtained by a recent inelastic fracture-based analysis represent measured strength values well. Furthermore, finite element analysis using cohesive elements for the adhesive bondline is shown to be a powerful tool in strength predictions of adhesively bonded joints. In addition to provide accurate estimates of the ultimate failure loads, the fracture process can be modelled, and the analysis method is applicable to a wide range of joint geometries.