Max Nettlau’s Utopian Vision

“Max Nettlau’s Esbozo de historia de las utopias, translated into English for the first time as Max Nettlau’s Utopian Vision, is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of utopianism or anarchism. Toby Widdicombe’s translation supplemented with extensive notes concerning the often forgotten but important authors and movements makes it an invaluable tool for any researcher.” —Lyman Tower Sargent, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

“In 1925, Nettlau, a bibliographer-activist and renowned historian of anarchism, published serially in Spanish his history of European and some American, British, and Latin American utopias. Without Widdicombe’s excellent introduction and translation, this fascinating alternative to Mumford’s The Story of Utopias (1922) could have languished in obscurity.” —Kenneth M. Roemer, Emeritus Fellow, University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers; Author of The Obsolete Necessity, America as Utopia, Utopian Audiences.

“Toby Widdicombe’s retrieval of Max Nettlau’s history of utopia for the English-speaking world provides an invaluable service to scholars and students of utopian and anarchist studies. Beyond his very readable translation, Widdicombe assembles an incredible amount of supporting material from numerous appendices to a thirty-five page bibliography. It is a triumph of dedicated scholarship.” —Francis Shor, Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University, USA.