Carl Desportes Bowman is associate professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology at Bridgewater College.

This model study of a small denomination's history, sociology and anthropology will inspire scholars who study larger, less definable religious groups... Bowman provides a good chronology of events and shows the walls of rural protection, sectarian ethos and geographical distance breaking down. Christian Century A welcome addition to an expanding collection of scholarly books about 'plain people,' including Amish Society and Hutterite Society, both by John Hostetler, and Mennonite Society, by Calvin Redekop, all published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Contemporary Sociology 1996

Carl Desportes Bowman is associate professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology at Bridgewater College.

This model study of a small denomination's history, sociology and anthropology will inspire scholars who study larger, less definable religious groups... Bowman provides a good chronology of events and shows the walls of rural protection, sectarian ethos and geographical distance breaking down. Christian Century A welcome addition to an expanding collection of scholarly books about 'plain people,' including Amish Society and Hutterite Society, both by John Hostetler, and Mennonite Society, by Calvin Redekop, all published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Contemporary Sociology 1996