Rockwell's famous Saturday Evening Post covers, the four Freedoms he painted during the years of World War II, his depictions of American towns, families, and traditions are all represented in this enchanting volume. They offer a picture of America that we hold dear, representing a world of hope and humanity. Fred Bauer writes about Rockwell's message of optimism and the artist's faith in America and its people in a forthright and sympathetic text complemented by numerous Rockwell favorites in all their warmth and color. Bauer visits Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Arlington, Vermont, talking to the people who lived with Rockwell and posed for his anecdotal pictures, the people about whom the artist said, "If you are interested in the characters you draw and understand them and love them, why, the people who see your pictures are bound to feel the same way." This lovely book enables us to partake once again of that unique love and understanding that Norman Rockwell still communicates to America.