What Utopia is about
A fictional society used to question work, property, religion and the shape of collective life. Thomas More wrote it in 1516. It sits in the society shelf of the library.
The edition you read
The original text is the Gilbert Burnet translation, 1684, a public domain edition. The text is complete and keeps its own chapter structure, so every reading points back to the same place in the book.
Where to start
The book opens with these readings, in order. The first one is free in the app.
- Meeting the traveller who can question Europe
- Why good counsel fails at court
- A society that creates theft
- Punishment that repairs rather than destroys
How the readings are split
The 25 readings follow the book's own divisions, grouped into 5 parts. Each reading is a sitting of a few minutes, and the reader remembers the paragraph where you stopped.
Reading it in plain English
Every reading has a plain English draft written paragraph by paragraph, and a short guide with context, an explanation, takeaways and a question to think about. The drafts are labeled Unreviewed plain English draft. Drafts, guides and the readings after the first one need Athenaeum Membership.
Questions about Utopia
Is Utopia free to read?
The Gilbert Burnet translation, 1684 is in the public domain. In Athenaeum the first of its 25 readings is free, and Athenaeum Membership opens the rest.
How long is Utopia?
Athenaeum splits it into 25 readings. Short books take a week of evenings, and long ones work best a reading or two at a time.
Read Utopia in Athenaeum
Athenaeum puts twenty classic books beside a sourced atlas of the Greek world. The first reading of every book is free.
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