im amish and this is the best and the most truthful book eve

Mr.Hosteler has written one of the best informative books on the Amish.I have read this sevral years ago as a young teen and have now re-pershased it and am greatful to have it back on my shelves.

I purchased the book Amish Society at Lapp's farm in Lancaster County. A book that even the Amish feel is good enough to sell themselves -- worked for me. I didn't read it until I got home from Lancaster Co., PA but it certainly explained a lot of things to me like why I saw cars in the yards of some of the Amish homes, why I saw Amish teenage boys smoking cigarettes, and how Amish sects differ.

As a grand-daughter of a related sect of plain people, The Hutterities, it was interesting to see how the Amish were similar to the Amish and how they differ. In a way it seemed like voyeurism to discover what the private lives of these very private people are like.

This is highly recommended anyone visiting the Amish or wanting ot learn more about them.

The author is a professor emeritus from Temple University and grew up in an Old-Order Amish family. So in addition to academic credentials, the author has lived the life he describes so well in this book.

While this is not a travelogue for those wishing a tour of Amish Country, it would be a very good thing to read before you go to Lancaster, PA or any of the other Amish-settled areas in the US and Canada. Dr. Hostetler describes attitudes to "the English World", the religious and daily life, and how the Amish merge with their secular neighbors.

The book also describes a bit of the struggle the Amish faced in the 60's when they sought permission to have their own schools and end formal educatiion for their children at grade 8. While he says little about it, Hostetler's own life must have been affected by this attitude to what is required in education; he left the community to become a university professor, and subsequently lived with the Hutterites, another religious society in Canada and Europe.

This is an enjoyable and realistic book with no sentimentality or gloss. If you want to know more about the Amish, this is definitely the book to read.

I once visited a Hutterite colony, and when I saw this book I at once decided I had to read it. It is written by a sociologist who views his subjects quite favorably. My reaction as I read was: "I am glad I am not a Hutterite." But if one was indoctrinated as they are from earliest childhood, I suppose one would be accepting of the restrictions which permeate their life. For example, toilet training frequently begins at three months but always by the time the child can sit alone. Such a regimen probably affects one's entire life, and accounts for the low rate of dropouts from Hutterite life style. The book is a 1974 book, and at the time there were 21,521 Hutterites in 229 colonies, compared to 1265 who came to this hemisphere in 1874. Researching on the Internet I note that there are some 38,000 in 1999. A colony branches out into a daughter colony in about 14 years. If you are interested in viewing a world different from anything you know you should read this book.

This book attempts to give a glance into Hutterite life, and succeeds admirably. However, for one who is searching for God's will in their life, what information there is about Hutterite religious beliefs is intermingled with the description of their daily life. Although this book is written as a book for sociologists and as a study of a society, it is still quite readable.

This book is not very detailed, and is not at all comprehensive. It takes a "broad spectrum" look at Mennonite life which is to say that it does not cover anything in decent detail. The most liberal "Mennonites" are no different than anybody else, and "Mennonite Life" is a sort of meaningless term. Old Order Mennonites are all lumped together and not covered well at all.