Looking Backward to Nowhere

Looking Backward to Nowhere: Two Visions of Utopia presents the complete text of two 19th century utopian novels: Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy and News from Nowhere by William Morris. The two works offer a fascinating comparison not only because Bellamy speaks from an American perspective and Morris from a British context, but also because Morris wrote his novel as a direct response to Bellamy’s, so the plot and thematic contrasts abound. Short introductory comments by Richard Mathews are supplemented by a generous selection of excerpts from Thomas More’s Utopia, which help to place both texts within the Utopian tradition. This is a convenient text for courses in Utopian studies or imaginary worlds—or for creative thinking about how we might live a better life.