A journey to nowhere

'Nowhere' and how to get there: Imaginary islands with desirable natural and social conditions, distant valleys where men

are healthy and happy, heavenly paradises awaiting the soul in a next life, earthly paradises tucked away beyond lofty mountains or across impassable deserts, remote kingdoms ruled by philosophers, perfect constitutions, blueprints for perfect commonwealths or, on the other side of the medal, underworlds, hells, purgatories, not so imaginary totalitarian states, not so unlikely repressive systems, all too real nightmarish cities. These are all 'Nowheres', places which do not exist, but might exist or have existed, and have affected the history of our thought as much as if they did exist or had existed. These 'Nowheres', both 'utopian' (= desirable) and 'dystopian' (=undesirable), are described and illustrated in the present book as if they were real. News from Nowhere by William Morris has inspired the title of this book, which is not

merely about Utopias or Dystopias, but about all imaginary and imagined places of this or of any other world.