[.ca] American Furniture of the 18th Century: History, ... (ISBN 1561581046)

A selection of fine furniture:
This book has an excellent selection of photographs of fine furniture of the 18th Century. The most notable thing about the book is that the author has exhibited fairly good taste in his selection of specimens to include, and has largely ignored the more shabby pieces of the era. This is in contrast with Nutting's "Furniture Treasury", which has truly extensive selections of photographs of all furniture of the era (good, bad, or indifferent). Greene's book also contains good historical information on the furniture trade of that era, and has an excellent bibliography of furniture books written in the 18th Century (some of which remain available). The author is a former mechanical engineer, who now hand crafts replica 18th Century furniture for a living.

History and Construction:
There is no better book about the history and visual features of 18th century American furniture. But the construction details fall short of what I hoped for. This is a book that is a great buy nevertheless. I'm happy I spent the money for it

An excellent all-around reference for this period furniture:
Greene's book does a good job of providing a woodworker (or others interested in period pieces) with solid information on many selected pieces from the era of the title. He does a good job of selecting pieces of good taste, and gives a lot of information on various details with just the right amount of how-to. There is also a lot of historical background info for those who like to know about the history of a piece or style before they build it. The pictures and exploded drawings (showing joinery) are excellent. Though not a comprehensive encyclopedia (it's not intended to be one) it is a good read from start to finish or a good reference book. Well worth the money.

A "must-buy" book for furniture makers:
This is a simply fabulous book. Its split into two sections; a furniture history section and a "how-to" section, describing basic techniques. These two sections make the book a great, informative read. BUT what makes this a "must buy" are the appendices. Greene shows exploded views of virtually all the basic furniture types. While these pictures aren't project plans, they provide invaluable information about the guts of antique furniture. The other appendix I like is the one showing 18th century recipes for finishes. I tried a few and they work great.

an book that treats the subject with the depth it deserves:
Greene's book draws on many disciplines to explain a whole fabric of history, design, and construction. It explains how and why furniture of the period came to be as it is. The design and construction of the furniture is presented in the context of the time it was made. It illustrates and explains the construction through representative examples. It shouldn't be confused with "how-to" books of measured drawings.