Title: Looking backward
First published: 1906
Description: Bellamy's novel tells the story of a hero figure named Julian West, a young American, who towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up 113 years later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts), but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000, and while he was sleeping, the United States has been transformed into a socialist utopia. The remainder of the book outlines Bellamy's thoughts about improving the future. The major themes include problems associated with capitalism, a proposed socialist solution of a nationalization of all industry, and the use of an "industrial army" to organize production and distribution, as well as how to ensure free cultural production under such conditions.
Subjects: Fiction, Utopias, Two thousand, A.D. in fiction, Social problems in fiction, Time travel in fiction, Time travel, Two thousand, A.D., Social problems, Utopias in fiction, Science fiction, Two thousand, A.D, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Boston (mass.), fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general
Places: Boston (Mass.)