Looking Backward

Examines the social ills of nineteenth-century industrialism and makes a plea for social reform and moral renewal. This novel echoes the anguish and hopes of its own age while it embodies a sustaining myth of the American literary tradition - that man's perfectibility is attainable in the New World.

Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward , 2000–1887 , a tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's early novels, including Six to One (1878), Dr. Heidenhoff's Process (1880), and Miss Ludington's Sister (1885) did not bring him much renown, but a turn to utopian science fiction with Looking Backward, published in January 1888, captured the public imagination and catapulted Bellamy to literary fame. Within a year the book had sold some 200,000 copies and by the end of the 19th century it had sold more copies than nearly any other book published in America up to that time, as well as spawning political movements around the country. Bellamy died of tuberculosis at the age of 48.