The Windsor chair, whether simple or complicated in construction, plain or ornate in appearance, has always served its purpose - to be utilitarian, durable, comfortable and even handsome. Many excellent academic works have been written on the subject, and this book does not attempt to improve on their expertise. The intention rather is to complement them by showing the finest designs in greater detail. The form and construction of the chairs speak for themselves. All the chairs illustrated, although made in different centuries, are in use today. Is there another example of utilitarian furniture made in such numbers that still survives and is in everyday use? More than 150 colour plates illustrate the very best Windsor chairs from the earliest stick-backs - literally stools with a few sticks added to the back - of the eighteenth century to those mass-produced for offices, schools, public institutions and the armed forces in the nineteenth century.