The Riddle of Amish Culture (Center Books in Anabaptist Studies) [Hardcover]

Donald B. Kraybill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801867711 | ISBN-13: 978-0801867712 | Publication Date: September 27, 2001 | Edition: Revised

Since its publication in 1989, The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is a perfect tool for introducing undergraduates to sociological analysis. Kraybill skillfully depicts an intriguing world that promotes collectivism against the dominant individualism. We come to understand how Amish life makes sense to those who adhere to it.

(Michèle Lamont Christian Century )

Beyond the tour buses and stereotypes lies the complex reality of Amish life. In this welcome update of a classic study, Donald B. Kraybill explores with deep insight and solid research the fascinating ways this fast-growing traditional community negotiates its evolving relationship with a modern world of business, tourism, shopping malls, and roller blades. No dry academic book, this beautifully written work exudes the juices of lived experience and conveys its author's profound respect for, and understanding of, Amish life.

(Paul Boyer, Editor-in-Chief, The Oxford Companion to United States History )

Carefully crafted, richly nuanced and accessible to both the informed reader and the novice, Donald Kraybill has once again produced a remarkably clear and meticulous study of one of North America's most intriguing religious minorities. The Riddle of Amish Culture opens a window into the complex reality of Amish society that crisscrosses the postmodern, modern, and traditional worlds.

(Thomas J. Meyers, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Goshen College, Goshen Indiana )

Donald Kraybill has written a brilliant exposition of Amish life. A sociological tour de force and must-read for those who wish to understand Amish culture.

(Peter Ester, Professor of Sociology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands )

I cannot think of a better way to introduce students to the richness of Amish life. The Riddle of Amish Culture takes the reader into the intricacies of Amish life and culture. Kraybill frames his rich narrative description with sophisticated analysis. While thoroughly accessible, Kraybill's book never insults the reader's intelligence. His treatment of Amish life resists stereotypes. In fact, he routinely explodes them.

(Stephen C. Ainlay, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the College, and Professor of Sociology, College of the Holy Cross )

The Riddle of Amish Culture is essential reading for anyone who wants to unlock the 'mystery' of a fascinating people whose simple, community oriented ways have much to teach us. Professor Kraybill's extremely informative book is a valuable resource, every semester in my classes for teachers.

(Ed Daniels, Lecturer, Stony Brook University, National Board Certified Teacher )

Kraybill moves seamlessly between the fascinating details of Amish life and the meaning of modernity, illuminating both as he informs and provokes in the best tradition of accessible scholarship. [His] masterful analysis of Amish life provides the perfect springboard for students to explore the meaning of modernity and to question the assumptions of their own culture.

(Marc Olshan, Professor of Sociology, Alfred University )

Kraybill's masterful analysis of Amish life provides the perfect springboard for students to explore the meaning of modernity and to question the assumptions of their own culture.

(Marc Olshan, Professor of Sociology, Alfred University )

Kraybill's study of the Lancaster Amish community is an excellent introduction to the Old Order world for both students and general readers. He enables us to see the Amish not as leftovers from the past, but as 21st century people whose confrontation with modernity is guided by the same devotion to religious principles that marked their ancestors as radicals. This book helps us solve the riddles of Old Order society.

(Karen Johnson-Weiner, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, SUNY Potsdam )

Students of human nature and those baffled by the seeming inconsistencies of Amish culture will find compelling explanation in Donald Kraybill's The Riddle of Amish Culture. In the new research on youth groups, Kraybill explains how a time of testing the limits and tasting the fruits of worldliness in adolescence has a 'redeeming function.'.

(D. R. Elder, Professor of Humanities, The Ohio State University-ATI )

The well documented book is an excellent field trip. It includes informative chapters, excellent notes, thorough bibliography all presented with clarity and correctness.

(Richard Rouillard, Professor of English, Oklahoma City Community College )

Book Description

Revised edition of this classic work brings the story of the Amish into the 21st century.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; Revised edition (September 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801867711
• ISBN-13: 978-0801867712
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donald B. Kraybill, Ph.D., is senior fellow at the Young Center of Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa. Among his many publications, he has authored, coauthored, or edited eight books on Amish society. The Riddle of Amish Culture (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001)is his flagship book that explains why the Amish are thriving. Amish Grace and The Amish Way (both by Jossey-Bass) explore Amish forgiveness and spirituality. His Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites is the only book that provides an overview of some 200 Anabaptist groups in North America. Kraybill's The Upside-Down Kingdom, which won the Religious Book of the Year Award, in print for more that thirty years, it is still widely read. His books have been translated into more than half a dozen languages. The Young Center, where he is based, is the premiere national institute for Amish studies. Kraybill's commentary on Amish life has been featured in dozens of broadcast and print media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (London), The Australian, Newsweek, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, NPR, and BBC Radio to name a few.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars detailed and fascinating look at compelling culture group., July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Riddle of Amish Culture (Center Books in Anabaptist Studies) (Paperback)

I was inspired to read this book after a 7 day bicycle trip in and around Lancaster, PA. Certainly any cultural group which resists the juggernaut and onslaught of American consumer culture bears study, and this book must be the definitive look at this group. How do you keep people interested in looking different, in downplaying their individuality in favor of the group's needs; in foregoing creature comforts like cars and electricity? And what is even more amazing is that there are many more Amish today than there were 50 years ago; unlike the Shakers, this sect is thriving. I recommend this book highly.RH

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than buggies, May 8, 2006

By 

Kathy F. Cannata "Rev. Dr. R. Cannata" (New Orleans, LA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Riddle of Amish Culture (Center Books in Anabaptist Studies) (Paperback)

Kraybill knows his topic. He's a prof. at Messiah College, a top-drawer evangelial school with Anabaptist/Brethren roots, located near PA Amish country. He has studied and written on the Amish since the mid-80s. He is also a clear communicator, able to summarize complicated material with ease.

He is clearly very sympathetic to most of the Amish distinctives, though he is able to maintain a critical stance.

To me the Amish are more than simply a curious cultural oddity. They offer some insights into ways for Christians to confront and stand apart from Modernity and materialism. Though Kraybill shows, they may be subtly Modernist in their very rejection of Modernity.

The Amish are also important as an example of an extreme Anabaptist tradition. The 16th century European Xianity can be divided into three groups: Roman Caholics, Reformation, and Anabaptist. Surely the latter, while smallest of the three in the 16th cent., has long been ascending in contemporary America. Anabaptist distinctives -- sectarianism, believer baptism, emphasis on piety over intellect, anticlerical, antisacramental, democratic in church polity, etc. -- are now dominant in American evangelicalism. How important then to understand the Amish, as a fairly well-preserved example of the early Anabaptist tradition.

Anyway, wonderful book. Worth repeated readings.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amish life: the same and yet so different, September 4, 2006

By 

C. Wagner "cecilkunkle" (On the banks of the Wabash far away) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Riddle of Amish Culture (Center Books in Anabaptist Studies) (Paperback)

Not your typical photographic essay. Discusses in depth the complexities of the Amish nation's dynamic interelations with the larger English society. Amish life has, apparently, changed greatly in the last century, whether it be gas stoves, business ventures, fiberglass buggies, or toxic chemicals spewn from modern devices pulled by horses, although such details vary somewhat from church district to church district. There are no easy outs for those born into the faith and no easy ins for those born outside. A more truly revealing book on the Amish would have to be written by someone in the inside, which will not happen. However, Kraybill's work is a sympathetic, comprehensive, and revealing work. An informative read also suggested for public and academic libaries.