Looking Backward: 2000-1887 »

Matthew Beaumont is a Lecturer in English and American Literature, University College London. He is the editor of the forthcoming A Concise Companion to Realism.

Published in 1888 to wide popularity, the novel looks at a utopian future that has solved the problems of the day. The main character, Julian West, wakes up in the year 2000, falls in love and views all the improvements made in 113 years: crime, poverty, and warfare eliminated; great cultural strides forward; a system of state capitalism in place of economic chaos.

Booknews

First published in 1888, Bellamy's utopian novel concerns a 19th century Bostonian who awakes from a sleep to find himself in the year 2000 in a world of near-perfect cooperation and prosperity. Historian Daniel Borus adds a 28-page introduction, a chronology of Bellamy's life, a selected bibliography, and questions to consider when reading the novel. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Foreword
Preface

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION: EDWARD BELLAMY'S UTOPIA IN HIS TIME AND OURS

PART TWO: THE DOCUMENT

Author's Preface
Looking Backward
Postscript: The Rate of the World's Progress

APPENDICES

A Bellamy Chronology (1850-1898)
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography

Index