This book explores craft practices in both North America and Britain, revealing an astonishingly rich and diverse picture of artisanal work today. The text ranges across both urban and rural crafts, and analyzes how the country/city dichotomy creates differing approaches, practices and objects. Analyzed in the context of their environment and its localized history, crafted objects are shown to embody or critique particular urban/rural myths and traditions. Covering both traditional and cutting-edge crafts from the small-scale domestic to large outdoor works, Contemporary Crafts demonstrates how crafts-people today are responding to the changing creative contexts of culture and history.