Nearly everyone who has ever visited one of the many Shaker communities in the Northeastern United States has come away in awe of the simple and perfectly proportioned style of the artifacts and buildings created by these enigmatic people. In this recently published work, author Herbert Schiffer includes a wide range of black and white photographs of 16 Shaker communities, some of which no longer exist. Each photograph includes a commentary on the function of the structure shown, including the original plans, in some instances. A thorough introduction traces the history of the Shaker people and relates the teachings of the Shaker way of life to the structures they created. For a look at how a religious movement changed the landscape of America, we strongly recommend this new book.