Looking Backward

In Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, what is, on the surface, a time travel love story quickly becomes a deep exploration of society, its values, and the proper role of government. Bellamy offers a utopian vision of the future in which industry is nationalized and wealth is equalized in a classless society. A work of huge consequence in its day, the novel shaped politics in both the U.S. and Europe and inspired a grassroots movement. It was also one of the most commercially successful novels of the nineteenth century, selling more than two hundred thousand copies when it was first published in 1888 and one million copies by the end of the century.

This Warbler Classics edition includes commentary by eminent American historian Lewis Mumford and a detailed biographical timeline of Edward Bellamy’s life and work.

Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) was an American author, journalist, and political activist most famous for his utopian novel Looking Backward.

Lewis Mumford (1895–1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer. Mumford made signal contributions to social philosophy, American literary and cultural history, and the history of technology.