I thoroughly enjoyed the book. There are commentaries on design at the introduction, which I found informative and interesting. Also, the quality of work that is displayed is absolutely amazing. There is verything from furniture to lighting, to the most innovative products of our time. The editors did a fantastic job on the page layout, truly a mastery of graphic design as well. Another great series of books along these lines is the Graphis yearbooks. I love the book, and I can't stop looking at it!

This book is a very pleasing combination of words and pictures. The author spreads the illustrations throughtout the text, drawing the reader into the flow of his thoughts. It is a complete treatment of the Shakers - from their history, their way of life and worship and their enduring legacy to our country. Mr. Horsham acknowledges the existence of a small number of Shakers in the Sabbathday Lake community in Maine which is a pleasant change from many of these type of books. Although the main focus of his work is on the beautiful worksmanship of the Shakers he does a credible job of explaining their theology and the all encompassing effect that theology had on their lifes and work. He also includes information on the spread of the Shakers community as well as the contraction that they experienced as the society around them changed, making their lifestyle less attractive to the "world's people". Definately a good value for the price, enjoyable for the neophyte Shaker enthusiast as well as the more "obsessed" among us.

I think I will probably have to pick up this book again and re-read it in a few years--after I've had a chance to more fully research the era on which it's written. Despite its wonderful photos, it doesn't seem to be exactly suitable for someone who isn't already versed in the details of the decades it describes.

I'm not quite sure for exactly *what* audience Horsham intended his book. Regardless that it initially appears to be a general overview, or primer, on the styles predominent in the twenties and thirties, Horsham writes like a name-dropper at a party--with frequent allusion to designers, art movements, political events, and various other artworks and objects. He *very* seldom, however, provides his readers with any additional information on them, rendering his references useless to anyone less well versed in the details of the two decades covered in the book.

My other great problem with Horsham is the fact that he writes on what appears to be a college freshman composition level. The book reads more like a beefed-up outline instead of a more organic, flowing text. Each chapter starts out with a thesis, upon which he expands (and frequently leaves to introduce several tangents--apparently at random) and eventually concludes with a *very* obvious transitional sentence introducing the reader to the next chapter. Except for his tangental excursions, this is a technically acceptable, if irritatingly obvious and un-artistic, writing style.

It is not without *some* sort of redeeming quality, however, which it finds in its fantastic illustrations. The book is positively loaded with images--drawings, paintings, photographis, posters, etc.--from the era, covering everything from graphic design to painting to architecture to travel to fashion to household items. If for no other reason, it's worth investigation for this alone.