Journey through Utopia is a richly detailed and critically compelling examination of utopian literature, beginning with Plato’s Republic and continuing through to Huxley’s Brave New World. Utopias have been penned with diverse intentions: some as pictures of an ideal society, some as blueprints for action, yet others, especially in times of severe censorship, as covert criticisms of existing conditions.
Marie Louise Berneri exposes the dark shadow that lingers above most utopian works by emphasising the intolerant and authoritarian nature of these visions, and she warns of the doom that awaits those foolish enough to put their trust in an ordered and regimented world.
This new edition is framed with an Introduction from Matthew S. Adams that situates Berneri’s work in the context of her life, and concludes with an Afterword from Rhiannon Firth that extends Berneri’s analysis into contemporary utopias. Journey through Utopia is a necessary companion, and in many cases an antidote, to imagined fictions from antiquity to the present.
“Berneri’s comments, explicit and implicit, are for the most part acutely discerning.… This is a fascinating work.”
—Times Literary Supplement
“As an old student of utopias, I have a special regard for Marie Louise Berneri’s Journey through Utopia; for it is the most comprehensive and the most perceptive study of that ideal land that I have come across in any language.”
—Lewis Mumford
“A demolishment of dream worlds (not ones that have been put into practice) in this historical survey and analysis of utopian thought from antiquity to modern times underscores the regimentation, authoritarian and narrow concepts of freedom that such prospectuses embodied.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Marie Louise Berneri identifies the authoritarian Utopian State as a concept running through much of the literature. A desire to orchestrate good behavior through various hierarchical arrangements, analogous to a mechanical system with predictable results ensured by regulated consistent behavior, is a dark shadow over many utopias.”
—Chris Carlsson, author of Nowtopia
“Berneri’s wide-ranging selection of readings constitutes a superb introduction to the history of utopian thought, and her often brilliant and insightful commentary remains highly illuminating.”
—John P. Clark, author of The Impossible Community: Realizing Communitarian Anarchism
