Hostetler, John Andrew. Amish Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1963.
Hostetler's study of Amish society examines the way in which Amish culture feels the strain of technological development in the outside "English" world, and the way in which particular customs are preserved or are changing under the influence of the "English" world. Hostetler argues that the changes in Amish society are not necessarily in a direct route from sacred to secular, but instead move at varying speeds in both directions. In some ways this 1963 study is dated, yet Hostetler draws his conclusions from such a prodigious collection of observations and interviews --not least of which are his own recollections of his youth in an Amish family--that contemporary scholars may still find this volume useful. [C. Rector]