Duncan Phyfe (1770–1854), known during his lifetime as the "United States Rage," to this day remains America's best-known cabinetmaker. Establishing his reputation as a purveyor of luxury by designing high-quality furniture for New York's moneyed elite, Phyfe would come to count among his clients some of the nation's wealthiest and most storied families. 
This richly illustrated volume covers the full chronological sweep of the craftsman's distinguished career, from his earliest furniture--which bears the influence of his 18th-century British predecessors Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Hope--to his late simplified designs in the Grecian Plain. More than sixty works by Phyfe and his workshop are highlighted, including rarely seen pieces from private collections and several newly discovered documented works. Additionally, essays by leading scholars bring to light new information on Phyfe's life, his workshop production, and his roster of illustrious patrons. What unfolds is the story of Phyfe's remarkable transformation from a young immigrant craftsman to an accomplished master cabinetmaker and an American icon.

Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York

Arts & Photography

Brown, Michael K.

KENNY, Peter M.

Bretter, Frances F.

Thurlow, Matthew A.

Individual Artists

Metropolitan Museum of Art

American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection

In 1920, Ima Hogg began an extensive collection of art and antiques that would chronicle America's tastes, styles, and customs from colonial times to the Victorian era. The daughter of a Texas governor, Miss Hogg continued to acquire works for her magnificent Houston home, Bayou Bend, until her death in 1975 at the age of ninety-three. Today Bayou Bend is owned and operated by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and is regarded as one of the country's foremost collections of Americana. This handsome and richly illustrated book documents this extraordinary collection in its entirety for the first time.
The volume records over 1,100 superb examples of furniture, paintings, and decorative arts, including many key pieces that have been acquired since Miss Hogg's death. The extensive furniture collection features important high-style examples from America's principal urban centers. Paintings by such prominent artists as John Smibert, John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, and Gilbert Stuart are included, many of which are reproduced here in color for the first time. Exceptional examples of metalwork, including notable pieces by Paul Revere and the celebrated firm of Tiffany &amp; Co., are joined by an extraordinary selection of prints, drawings, textiles, glass, and ceramics.
Reflecting more than ten years of research, documentation, and technical examination of the collection by prominent curators and conservators, this beautiful volume will be of great interest to the general public and collectors as well as to students and scholars.

Neff, Emily Ballew

Warren, David B.

Coleman, Elizabeth Ann

History & Criticism

Princeton University Press

The American welfare state is often blamed for exacerbating social problems confronting African Americans while failing to improve their economic lot. Michael K. Brown contends that our welfare system has in fact denied them the social provision it gives white citizens while stigmatizing them as recipients of government benefits for low income citizens. In his provocative history of America's "safety net" from its origins in the New Deal through much of its dismantling in the 1990s, Brown explains how the forces of fiscal conservatism and racism combined to shape a welfare state in which blacks are disproportionately excluded from mainstream programs.
Brown describes how business and middle class opposition to taxes and spending limited the scope of the Social Security Act and work relief programs of the 1930s and the Great Society in the 1960s. These decisions produced a welfare state that relies heavily on privately provided health and pension programs and cash benefits for the poor. In a society characterized by pervasive racial discrimination, this outcome, Michael Brown makes clear, has led to a racially stratified welfare system: by denying African Americans work, whites limited their access to private benefits as well as to social security and other forms of social insurance, making welfare their "main occupation." In his conclusion, Brown addresses the implications of his argument for both conservative and liberal critiques of the Great Society and for policies designed to remedy inner-city poverty.

Race, Money, and the American Welfare State

History

Americas

Cornell University Press

Now available in paperback, this provocative study examines the street-level decisions made by police, caught between a sometimes hostile community and a maze of departmental regulations. Probing the dynamics of three sample police departments, Brown reveals the factors that shape how officers wield their powers of discretion. Chief among these factors, he contends, is the highly bureaucratic organization of the modern police department.
A new epilogue, prepared for this edition, focuses on the structure and operation of urban police forces in the 1980s.
"Add this book to the short list of important analyses of the police at work....Places the difficult job of policing firmly within its political, organizational, and professional constraints...Worth reading and thinking about." —Crime &amp; Delinquency
"An excellent contribution...Adds significantly to our understanding of contemporary police." —Sociology
"A critical analysis of policing as a social and political phenomenon....A major contribution." —Choice

Working the Street: Police Discretion and the Dilemmas of Reform

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Russell Sage Foundation

Now available in paperback, this provocative study examines the street-level decisions made by police, caught between a sometimes hostile community and a maze of departmental regulations. Probing the dynamics of three sample police departments, Brown reveals the factors that shape how officers wield their powers of discretion. Chief among these factors, he contends, is the highly bureaucratic organization of the modern police department. A new epilogue, prepared for this edition, focuses on the structure and operation of urban police forces in the 1980s. "Add this book to the short list of important analyses of the police at work....Places the difficult job of policing firmly within its political, organizational, and professional constraints...Worth reading and thinking about." —Crime &amp; Delinquency "An excellent contribution...Adds significantly to our understanding of contemporary police." —Sociology "A critical analysis of policing as a social and political phenomenon....A major contribution." —Choice

Working the Street: Police Discretion and the Dilemmas of Reform (Publications of Russell Sage Foundation)

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in Houston, Texas, houses one of the world's great collections of American furniture, paintings and decorative arts. The collection is displayed in the historic residence of Texas philanthropist Ima Hogg (1882-1975). In 1957, Miss Hogg gave Bayou Bend to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and it was converted into a house museum and opened to the public in 1966. The collection is installed in 28 room settings that reflect historic and stylistic periods from 1620 to 1870. The collection is especially strong in furniture made for urban homes from the early colonial period to the Civil War. It also features a remarkable survey of early-American painting and silver. This book presents the highlights of the wonderful collection of American furniture, paintings and decorative arts at Bayou Bend. It will include an illustrated essay detailing the history of how the collection was formed, followed by a brief showcasing of 100 of the collection's masterpieces, engaging cat

America's Treasures at Bayou Bend: Celebrating Fifty Years

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles

Scala Publishers

Brax Donovan is a lonely widower living in a retirement village on an island off the coast of Georgia when he meets an attractive new resident, Dae Whitehead. Soon the two seniors fall in love and together accept the reality of aging and rediscover the joy of living. Although facing the threat of commercial development, they make plans to spend their final years together in the idyllic setting. But Dae harbors a secret and the shocking revelation threatens to pull them apart. Torn between love and conscience, they face a decision that will determine the promise of their future.

Promise of Silver: A Mature Couple Discovers the True Meaning of Love

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Deeds Publishing

Somewhere A River

Michael K. Brown

Brax Donovan plans to live out his last years with his faithful dog, Sunny, in a house nestled in the north Georgia mountains. But when he learns that the husband of his ex-lover, Dae Whitehead, has died, he sees a new hope for his future. To clear his mind, he takes a walk in the woods behind his house and meets a mysterious young boy named Ty tending a fire pit. Ty speaks haltingly and runs away after making a disturbing comment. Afterward, Brax discovers the charred remnants of some vile pictures in the undergrowth nearby.In Promise of the Hills, a mature couple rekindle a love that has been forbidden for three long years. An eight-year-old boy enters their lives, bringing a new dimension to their future, and becomes a key figure in uncovering a shocking crime that stuns a small town. A strong-willed man and his rebellious son reconcile their lifelong differences. As a family comes together, three generations are bound by the memory of the past and the promise of the future. To learn how this journey begins, read Promise of Silver by Michael K. Brown.

Promise of the Hills

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