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  • Experts

Utopia & Dystopia

Most Recommended Books

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

“It shows the ways in which technology, our need for certain creature comforts and consumer culture can be used to manipulate us.”

Catherine Mayer, Politician

Read more

    The best books on Alternative Futures, recommended by Catherine Mayer

  • Read
    The best books on Alternative Futures - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    1

    Brave New World
    by Aldous Huxley

  • Read
    The best books on Alternative Futures - Idoru by William Gibson

    2

    Idoru
    by William Gibson

  • Read
    The best books on Alternative Futures - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

    3

    The Left Hand of Darkness
    by Ursula Le Guin

  • Read
    The best books on Alternative Futures - Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

    4

    Binti
    by Nnedi Okorafor

  • Read
    The best books on Alternative Futures - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

    5

    The Handmaid's Tale
    by Margaret Atwood

The best books on Alternative Futures, recommended by Catherine Mayer

Catherine Mayer—author, journalist and president of the Women’s Equality Party—talks to Five Books about her optimism for a more equal future for society by way of her favourite science fiction visionaries and their work.

    The best books on Utopia, recommended by Ellen Wayland-Smith

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - City of God by St Augustine

    1

    City of God
    by St Augustine

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Utopia by Thomas More

    2

    Utopia
    by Thomas More

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - A Modern Utopia by HG Wells

    3

    A Modern Utopia
    by HG Wells

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    4

    Brave New World
    by Aldous Huxley

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism by Chris Jennings

    5

    Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism
    by Chris Jennings

The best books on Utopia, recommended by Ellen Wayland-Smith

Utopia is out of fashion because efforts to set one up normally end disastrously, says author Ellen Wayland-Smith. And yet, they offer a critique of society that, even today, can’t be ignored. She picks the best books on utopia.

    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia, recommended by Chan Koonchung

  • Read
    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia - Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

    1

    Looking Backward
    by Edward Bellamy

  • Read
    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia - The Iron Heel by Jack London

    2

    The Iron Heel
    by Jack London

  • Read
    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

    3

    Nineteen Eighty-Four
    by George Orwell

  • Read
    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    4

    Brave New World
    by Aldous Huxley

  • Read
    The best books on Dystopia and Utopia - Swastika Night by Katherine Burdekin

    5

    Swastika Night
    by Katherine Burdekin

The best books on Dystopia and Utopia, recommended by Chan Koonchung

Warnings about the future of society contained in novels such as Nineteen Eighty-Four may seem less important since the fall of the Soviet Union, but they are all too relevant to China today, argues the Chinese writer

    The best books on Utopia, recommended by John Quiggin

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    1

    Brave New World
    by Aldous Huxley

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks

    2

    Consider Phlebas
    by Iain M Banks

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith

    3

    The Affluent Society
    by John Kenneth Galbraith

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Envisioning Real Utopias by Erik Olin Wright

    4

    Envisioning Real Utopias
    by Erik Olin Wright

  • Read
    The best books on Utopia - Essays in Persuasion by John Maynard Keynes

    5

    Essays in Persuasion
    by John Maynard Keynes

The best books on Utopia, recommended by John Quiggin

The Australian economist and author of Zombie Economics says we need to inspire people with a view of a better society. In short, we need a new utopia.

    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse

  • Read
    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse - The Invisible Writing by Arthur Koestler

    1

    The Invisible Writing
    by Arthur Koestler

  • Read
    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse - Civilisation and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud

    2

    Civilisation and Its Discontents
    by Sigmund Freud

  • Read
    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse - The Pursuit of the Millennium by Norman Cohn

    3

    The Pursuit of the Millennium
    by Norman Cohn

  • Read
    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse - The Sense of an Ending by Frank Kermode

    4

    The Sense of an Ending
    by Frank Kermode

  • Read
    John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse - Hello America by JG Ballard

    5

    Hello America
    by JG Ballard

John Gray recommends the best Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse

Is it inevitable that the desire to build a perfect world should end in disaster? John Gray considers the flaws in utopian thinking and the essential nature of humans. He recommends the best critiques of utopia and apocalypse.

    The Best Apocalyptic Novels, recommended by James Miller

  • Read
    The Best Apocalyptic Novels - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

    1

    The Road
    by Cormac McCarthy

  • Read
    The Best Apocalyptic Novels - Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

    2

    Riddley Walker
    by Russell Hoban

  • Read
    The Best Apocalyptic Novels - The Book of Dave by Will Self

    3

    The Book of Dave
    by Will Self

  • Read
    The Best Apocalyptic Novels - Judge Dredd by John Wagner, Alan Grant and Carlos Ezquerra

    4

    Judge Dredd
    by John Wagner, Alan Grant and Carlos Ezquerra

  • Read
    The Best Apocalyptic Novels - When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs

    5

    When the Wind Blows
    by Raymond Briggs

The Best Apocalyptic Novels, recommended by James Miller

The tutor of creative writing at London’s South Bank University selects what he feels are the best Apocalyptic novels. Includes volumes from Raymond Briggs, Cormac McCarthy and Will Self.

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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