The story of utopias: 100th anniversary edition
"This survey of utopias, which spans from Plato to the twentieth century, was Lewis Mumford's first success. He was particularly interested in what he calls utopias of reconstruction, models for reshaping an imperfect world. Beginning with a survey of famous utopian ideas and writings, he moves from Plato's Republic, More's Utopia, Andreæ's Christianopolis, Bacon's New Atlantis, Campanella's City of the Sun, Fourier's phalanxes, Cabet's Icaria, Bellamy's Looking Backward, Morris's News from Nowhere, and finally on to H.G. Wells's utopian fiction. He then produces the essence of a checklist for assessing how closely a society comes to utopian ideals, looking at work and standards of living, housing, democratic (or not) governance, sex and marriage, the raising of children, our relationship with nature, and the importance of the arts and creativity. A century later, the book stands not only as an introduction to the work of a maverick scholar who had worldwide influence, but also suggests ways to approach a future even more challenging than that faced by Mumford's post-war generation. Mumford delves into issues that remain relevant today: social equity in his chapter on the country house, for example, and the relationship between science and the arts in his concluding chapter about how we can find, or build, utopia. "The first study of utopias I read was Mumford's The Story of Utopias, and while there have been many surveys of Western utopian literature since then, several of which argue with Mumford, it remains an excellent introduction. Since he struggled with the idea throughout his life, it is also essential reading for anyone interested in his thought." Lyman Tower Sargent, author of Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction"--