All Things New: American Communes and Utopian Movements, 1860-1914

From the 17th to the 20th centuries America has been both a haven for utopian dreamers and a fertile ground for experiments in community. Closely examining the decades from the Civil War to World War I, Robert S. Fogarty provides the first comprehensive study of a neglected chapter in the history of American utopian and communal experiments. Countering the view that utopianism declined dramatically after the 1840s, Fogarty uncovers a wealth of utopian experiments across the United States from 1860 to 1914. He examines some 125 communities and their leaders, ranging from the secular and entrepreneurial to the charismatic and mystical. These engrossing tales of communes gain both authority and vitality from this exhaustive research in primary sources, including newspapers, journals, and letters and from the inclusion of historic photographs of colonists and prophets. Fogarty’s arguments reflect recurrent cultural forces in American history, as he defines new territory in the history of utopian and communal movements. This trenchant work, accompanied by its new foreword, offers a fresh perspective on the persistent theme of defining community and self.