Breakaway Amish: Growing Up with the Bergholz Beard Cutters

Beard-cutting attacks on Amish people in the middle of the night. Five incidents. Nine victims. How could members of a Christian tradition known for peace and forgiveness enact such violence? What could make members of one Amish group turn against other Amish?

In Breakaway Amish, Johnny Mast tells in riveting detail how his Amish community became increasingly isolated, and how the wishes and edicts of his grandfather, bishop Sam Mullet, overtook daily life. Here is an eyewitness account of the disturbing events at Bergholz, an Amish community gone awry. Yet redemption dwells even here, in the bravery and conviction of one of their own who chose to break free.