A Modern Utopia

'A Modern Utopia' was first published in 1905, and tells the tale of H G Wells and a botanist friend holidaying in the Swiss Alps. By chance they enter a portal that transports them to a planet beyond Sirius that is geographically identical to earth and inhabited by humans. But here the resemblance stops. Instead of a multiplicity of cultures and nations, this parallel planet is strictly controlled by a world government of 'Samurai', a moral and spiritual ruling class. Technology is in the ascendant, with high-speed trains, a Channel Tunnel, and clean, electric cities. Science has provided security, health and freedom from toil. H G Wells believed the 'static' Utopias of Plato, More and Bacon were doomed to failure. Instead, he proposed a 'kinetic' Utopia, where continuing scientific advances prevent the ossification of a uniform society. This is a book with striking relevance for our own time, where Globalisation is proffered as a universal panacea for a troubled world.