About this item

On the Backroad to Heaven is a unique guidebook to the world of Old Order Anabaptist groups. Focusing on four Old Order communities -- the Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren -- Donald B. Kraybill and Carl Desportes Bowman provide a fascinating overview of their culture, growth, and distinctive way of life. Following a general introduction to Old Order culture, they show how each group uses a different strategy to create and sustain its identity. The Hutterites, for example, keep themselves geographically segregated from the larger society, whereas the Brethren interact more freely with it. The Amish and Mennonites are more alike in how they engage the outside world, adopting a complex but flexible strategy of compromise that produces an evolving canon of social and religious rules.



About the Author

Donald B. Kraybill

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.



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