Could have made the case for everyday, incremental improvements, perhaps with a number-crunching argument for Scandinavian-style social democracy. Such a book would have been as rich in data as it would be dull in prescription. Instead, Ms. Ghodsee goes for utopia ... Makes the book a fascinating read, though not in the ways the author intends ... Her book is a reminder why intellectuals should never be placed in positions of authority.
Ghodsee extrapolates the lessons that can be learned from these experiments and how they could be applied to modern society in order to achieve a better, easier way of life. The text is rounded out with endnotes, a bibliography, and chapter- by-chapter reading recommendations, an invaluable addition for readers seeking more utopian philosophy and history.
Though Ghodsee’s proposals are decidedly utopian, readers who think deeper about them may agree that reshaping society is not such an unworkable thing after all.
