{"product_id":"the-last-utopians-michael-robertson-9780691154169","title":"The Last Utopians: Four Late Nineteenth-Century Visionaries and Their Legacy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe entertaining story of four utopian writers--Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Edward Carpenter, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman--and their continuing influence today\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor readers reared on the dystopian visions of \u003ci\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Handmaid's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e, the idea of a perfect society may sound more sinister than enticing. In this lively literary history of a time before \"Orwellian\" entered the cultural lexicon, Michael Robertson reintroduces us to a vital strain of utopianism that seized the imaginations of late nineteenth-century American and British writers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Utopians\u003c\/i\u003e delves into the biographies of four key figures--Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Edward Carpenter, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman--who lived during an extraordinary period of literary and social experimentation. The publication of Bellamy's \u003ci\u003eLooking Backward\u003c\/i\u003e in 1888 opened the floodgates of an unprecedented wave of utopian writing. Morris, the Arts and Crafts pioneer, was a committed socialist whose \u003ci\u003eNews from Nowhere\u003c\/i\u003e envisions a workers' Arcadia. Carpenter boldly argued that homosexuals constitute a utopian vanguard. Gilman, a women's rights activist and the author of \"The Yellow Wallpaper,\" wrote numerous utopian fictions, including \u003ci\u003eHerland\u003c\/i\u003e, a visionary tale of an all-female society. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese writers, Robertson shows, shared a belief in radical equality, imagining an end to class and gender hierarchies and envisioning new forms of familial and romantic relationships. They held liberal religious beliefs about a universal spirit uniting humanity. They believed in social transformation through nonviolent means and were committed to living a simple life rooted in a restored natural world. And their legacy remains with us today, as Robertson describes in entertaining firsthand accounts of contemporary utopianism, ranging from Occupy Wall Street to a Radical Faerie retreat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Robertson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691154163\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691154169\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/29\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.50w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/26\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2018","brand":"Michael Robertson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44809626026239,"sku":"9780691154169","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6e8b4136-6e40-40be-96ab-c759dafcf1bb.jpg?v=1707927020","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-last-utopians-michael-robertson-9780691154169","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}