Utopia - Softcover

Controversial, contradictory, and mysterious, Utopia by Sir Thomas More has engaged scholars and intrigued readers since its initial publication in the 16th century. More’s imagining of Utopia presents a solution to many of the social ills discussed in the first part of the text, yet seems also to embody a rejection of More’s own well-documented Catholic beliefs. The novel popularized the concept of utopian societies in literary works, and can even be credited with the first introduction of the Greek term “utopia” into the English language.

Thomas More was born in 1478. He succeeded Wolsey as Lord Chancellor of England, but came into conflict with the king, Henry VIII, by refusing to acknowledge him as sole head of the church. Charged with high treason, More steadfastly refused to takean oath impugning the pope's authority or upholding the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He was beheaded in 1535.