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Utopia

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Utopia by Thomas More is a seminal work in which More describes a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs. The book is presented as a dialogue and explores the idea of a perfect society, raising questions about justice, governance, and the relationship between the individual and the state. Through the fictional narrative, More offers a critique of European society in the early 16th century, prompting readers to reflect on the nature of ideal governance and societal organisation.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this classic if you're intrigued by philosophical explorations of an ideal society and enjoy engaging with thought-provoking insights into social and political structures. Written in the 16th century, it offers a timeless examination of human society through a blend of satire and imaginative fiction that continues to inspire debates on ethics and governance.

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Offers a traveller's account of a newly-discovered island (Utopia) where the inhabitants enjoy a social order based on natural reason and justice, and human fulfillment is open to all.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A major new translation by Dominic Baker-Smith of More's perennially popular Latin text.

Utopia is Thomas More's work of philosophical fiction, imagining the island of the title, on which thousands live in peace and harmony. Through dialogue and correspondence between Raphael Hythloday and his friends and contemporaries, More explores the theories behind war, political disagreements, social quarrels, and wealth distribution, and goes into the day-to-day lives of those citizens enjoying freedom from fear, oppression, violence, and suffering.

This vision of an ideal world is also a scathing satire of Europe in the sixteenth century which has been hugely influential since publication, shaping utopian fiction even to the present day.

Even if you can't eradicate harmful ideas or remedy established evils, that's no reason to turn your back on the body politic

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141442327

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 August 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Dominic Baker-Smith
  • Translated by Dominic Baker-Smith
  • Edited by Dominic Baker-Smith

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 11.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 199.0mm

Weight: 147g

Pages: 192

About the Author

Thomas More was born a Londoner in 1477 or 1478. He served as a page, then studied at Oxford, was called to the bar and subsequently had a highly successful career in the City. Sent on an embassy to Flanders in 1515, he began Utopia there and completed it back in London. From 1528 he actively resisted innovation in religious matters and clashed with Henry VIII over his break with the Church. In July 1535, after he refused to accept the royal supremacy over the church, he was tried as a traitor at Westminster Hall and beheaded on Tower Hill. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935. Dominic Baker-Smith has been a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge; Professor of English at University College, Cardiff; and is now Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam. In addition to various publications on English and Neo-Latin literature he is the author of More's 'Utopia' (1991, 2000) and has edited three volumes in the Toronto Collected Works of Erasmus. He has served as Chairman of the Society for Renaissance Studies and was appointed OBE in 1999.

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