"The American Shakers (1774-2018), Verging on Extinction: A Miscellany of Their History and Estimations of Their Would-Be Utopian Society in Imaginative and Scholarly Literature" from H. G. Hastings-Duffield explores how this society has been described by non-Shaker fiction writers, as the deaths of two last Shaker sisters leaves one remaining brother and the near-extinction of their lineage.
Sault Sainte Marie, MI, October 8, 2018 (Newswire.com) - H. G. Hastings-Duffield, a professor emeritus of Central Michigan University and a secular humanist by reason, has completed his new book, “The American Shakers (1774–2018), Verging on Extinction: A Miscellany of Their History and Estimations of Their Would-Be Utopian Society in Imaginative and Scholarly Literature”: an absorbing documentary on the wane of Shakerism.
Hastings-Duffield shares, “Shakers were known initially as ‘Shaking Quakers’ because of their ecstatic and gymnastic behavior during worship services—whirling, jumping, wildly dancing, loudly singing nonsense songs, barking, and so forth. As early as 1747, women assumed leadership roles within the sect, notably Jane Wardley, Ann Lee, and Lucy Wright—certainly an anomaly in the Christian modus operandi of the day (and also of today, of course).
Ann Lee, lovingly called ‘Mother Ann’ by her followers, founded Shakerism (as the experience has come to be called) upon the cardinal principle that the root of all sin is indulgence in carnal pleasure as engaged in initially by Adam and Eve (which “brought death in to the world and all our woe”). She was so well regarded by her followers that they believed the long-awaited parousia had already begun in/through her—Mother Ann, the Christ spirit come again, this time in female form, an allegation perfectly consistent with the Shaker principle and practice of gender parity.”
Published by Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, H. G. Hastings-Duffield’s new book is an engrossing historical journey that takes the reader back to the roots of the society when the Shakers came to the New World to create the “New Jerusalem” in the American colonies.
Even-handed and thorough, Hastings-Duffield offers a study that compiles facts and narratives, effectively exposing the denigration in many bigoted non-Shaker writings concerning this distinct society.
Readers can purchase “The American Shakers (1774–2018), Verging on Extinction: A Miscellany of Their History and Estimations of Their Would-Be Utopian Society in Imaginative and Scholarly Literature” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.
Covenant books is an international Christian owned and operated publishing house based in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Covenant Books specializes in all genres of work which appeal to the Christian market. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Covenant Books at 843-507-8373.
Source: Covenant Books
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