Thisisthefirstmajorcollcetionofeighteenth-centuryBritishutopias.Seventracts,spanningthecentur,showhowtheimageoftheidealsocietywasusedasaformofsocialcriticism,andparticularlyasameansoffocussingonideasofprogressandcommercialdeveopment.Radicalandrepublicanthindingaboutpropertyownership,socialequality,andcommerceandluxury-ofparticularrelevancetothecritiqueofcorruptioninthisperiod-coexistswithnostalgicandconservativenotionsoftheidealhierarchicalcommunity.Theintroduction.whichsetshesetractsinawiderconetxtofsimilartexts,examinestheirrealtionshiptothepoliticalthoughtoftheperiod,andshowshowissuesanddevelopmentsofkeyimportance,fromthedebatesurroundingtheFrenchrevolutiontotheoriginsofRomanticismandearlysocialism,areiluminatedbyanunderstandingoftheutopiantradition.