This revealing and poignant film by Ken Burns portrays 200 years of Shaker life in America, guided by the recollections of the three surviving members of the faith, along with a wealth of archival material from over 40 collections. Explore every aspect of this strange and noble sect that produced some of the greatest architecture and furniture in American history.

"From 1848 to 1881, a small utopian colony in upstate New York--the Oneida Community--was known for its shocking sexual practices, from open marriage and free love to the sexual training of young boys by older women. And in 1881, a one-time member of the Oneida Community--Charles Julius Guiteau--assassinated President James Garfield in a brutal crime that shook America to its core. An Assassin in Utopia is the first book that weaves together these...

A collection of Goethe's prose, both literary and scientific, published during his lifetime and posthumously. Also included are portions of his diaries, letters and articulations. Topics include: religion, nature, science and philosophy, the social sphere, the moral sphere, art, and the body politic.

Missouri, 1881. Joining the communal society of the Amana Colonies isn't what Jancey Rhoder planned, but when unforeseen circumstances force her family to make difficult decisions, she gives up her teaching position in a Kansas City orphanage and moves with her parents to Iowa. Her besotted suitor, Nathan Woodward, is determined to get Jancey to change her mind. And Jancey herself isn't sure what she's gotten herself into when the simple life of the...

In 1903, a preacher named Benjamin Purnell and five followers founded a colony called the House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where they prepared for eternal life by creating a heaven on earth. Housed in rambling mansions and surrounded by lush orchards and vineyards, the colony added a thousand followers to its fold within a few years, along with a zoo, extensive gardens, and an amusement park. The sprawling complex, called Eden Springs, was...