All Formats & Editions

In his most famous and controversial book, Utopia , Thomas More imagines a perfect island nation where thousands live in peace and harmony, men and women are both educated, and all property is communal. Through dialogue and correspondence between the protagonist Raphael Hythloday... Read Full Overview

Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478-1535) published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia... Read Full Overview

Utopia (1516) is a work of political satire by Thomas More. Published in Latin while More was serving as Privy Counsellor under King Henry VIII, the text is stylized as a true account of a new civilization discovered in the New World by traveler Raphael Hythlodaeus... Read Full Overview

Based on Thomas More's penetrating analysis of the folly and tragedy of the politics of his time and all times, Utopia (1516) is a seedbed of alternative political institutions and a perennially challenging exploration of the possibilities and limitations of political action.

... Read Full Overview

What we can learn from a Renaissance nowhere

In 1516, a book was published in Latin with the enigmatic Greek-derived word as its title. Utopia--which could mean either "good-place" or "no-place"--gives a traveler's account of a newly discovered island somewhere... Read Full Overview

Utopia By Sir Thomas More is a work of political philosophy primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs.

"This translation offers a fresh and vital encounter with Thomas More's Utopia for a twenty-first century audience."--Elizabeth McCutcheon, Utopian Studies

Utopia By Sir Thomas More is a work of political philosophy primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. A really influential and highly regarded mind, Thomas More is known for being controversial and highly intelligent. A wonderful... Read Full Overview

A major new translation of Thomas More's popular work of philosophical fiction

First published in Latin in 1516, Utopia was the work of Sir Thomas More (1477-1535), the brilliant humanist, scholar, and churchman executed by Henry VIII for his refusal to accept the king as the supreme head of the Church of England.
In this work, which gave... Read Full Overview

This text presents a contribution to political thought, culminating in the description of the "utopians". These figures live according to the principles of natural law, but are receptive to Christian teachings, hold all possessions in common and view gold as worthless.

A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or near perfect qualities. The word was coined by Sir Thomas More in Greek for his 1516 book Utopia (in Latin), describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both... Read Full Overview

"Backgrounds" is designed to assist student readers in an appreciation of Utopia by shedding light on the different points of view contemporary with More's work. Included are new selections from Saint Benedict and Tasso, as well as a medieval satire on the land of Cockayne. "The... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

'To find citizens ruled by good and wholesome laws, that is an exceeding rare, and hard thing.'

In Thomas More's hugely influential Utopia , a traveller recounts his discovery of an island nation in which the inhabitants enjoy unprecedented social cohesion and justice. The book imagines a community in which laws, personal relations and professional ambition are based on... Read Full Overview

Sir Thomas More's entertaining description of Utopia, an island supporting a perfectly organized and happy people, was a best-seller when it first appeared in Latin in 1516. This work of a Catholic martyr has later been seen as the source of Ana-baptism, Mormonism, and even communism... Read Full Overview