Hovering between fantasy, satire, blueprint and game, Thomas More imagines an island nation where thousands live in peace and harmony, men and women are both educated, and property is communal. But there has always been a shadow at the heart of Utopia. In an increasingly unsettled world, can the contradictions of Utopia help us chart a different path?
To celebrate the quincentenary edition, published by Verso and Somerset House, Matt Beaumont and Gillian Darley explore how Utopia continues to inspire, and how utopia informs our visions of urban space and fictive possibilities.