Focusing on Norman Rockwell, this is one of an illustrated series which provides accounts of the lives of individual artists, professional and personal anecdotes, and concise definitions of cultural and social movements that shaped their work. The book sets out to show that behind the rosy surface of Rockwell's popular images of American life is a more complex artist who was one of the first to use his art to advance the cause of civil rights. The book examines his scenes from everyday life, his cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post, comforting images that are not as simple as they look, and portraits of presidents and astronauts, plumbers and umpires, college co-eds and barbers, and film stars and school children.