Robert M. Adams’s celebrated translation of Utopia has been meticulously revised for the Second Edition of this Norton Critical Edition as have the accompanying annotations. "Backgrounds" is designed to assist student readers in an appreciation of Utopia by shedding light on the different points of view contemporary with More’s work. Included are new selections from Saint Benedict and Tasso, as well as a medieval satire on the land of Cockayne. "The Humanist Circle", a carefully chosen selection of letters, includes another important contribution by Erasmus.
"Criticism" includes five new thought-provoking essays by Alistair Fox, Edward L. Surtz, G. R. Elton, Northrop Frye, and Robert M. Adams. Also new are selections from two modern anti-utopias or quasi-utopias—Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and B. F. Skinner’s Walden Two—plus a selection from Edward Bellamy’s once futuristic but now almost contemporary Looking Backward, which may be compared and contrasted with More’s masterpiece.
An updated Selected Bibliography is also included. .