After its initial explosion in mid-1920s Europe, American designers began to make their own contribution to the style of Art Deco. Most of the important buildings of the 1930s were embellished with Art Deco ornamentation - from the Oviatt Building in Los Angeles to New York's romantic Chrysler Building. The style was adopted in Hollywood and Art Deco became part of the background of ordinary people.

A dynamic American tradition developed in virtually all the applied arts, as demonstrated by the dazzling illustrations in this book. In chapters covering subjects such as furniture, silverware, glass, architecture, sculpture and painting, jewelry and world fairs, Alastair Duncan explores this wide and exuberant subject, reassessing the work of such gifted artists as Donald Deskey, Paul Manship, Gilbert Rohde, Walter von Nessen, and many others whose vision helped to transform American art and design.