Utopia has always had a close, though ambivalent, relationship with millennialism. This relationship was probably at its most intense in England at the time of the Civil War; even when utopia aspired to secularism - as at the time of the French Revolution, or in nineteenth-century socialism - it continued to turn to millenial forms to recharge its energies.
The essays in this book explore aspects of this relationship; some consider their role in the debate concerning human perfectability, while others examine the rise of secularism. Further contributions reflect upon the apparent failure of the modern Communist utopia, note the recent reappearance of apocalyptic themes in fiction and social theory, or draw on the contributions of feminism and ecology. As our century ends, it seems that utopia and the millenium are once more locked in an uneasy embrace.
Stephen Bann is Emeritus Professor of History of Art at the University of Bristol. He is author of many books including Romanticism and the Rise of History (1995), Paul Delaroche: History Painted (Reaktion, 1997) and Jannis Kounellis (Reaktion, 2003).
Krishan Kumar is Professor of Social Thought at the University of Kent at Canterbury.