A Modern Utopia: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

A Modern Utopia, credited to H. G. Wells, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of A Modern Utopia, by H. G. Wells. Read by Librivox volunteer readers. H. G. Wells's proposal for social reform was the formation of a world state, a concept that would increasingly preoccupy him throughout the remainder of his life. One of his most ambitious early attempts at portraying a world state was A Modern Utopia (1905). A Modern Utopia was intended as a hybrid between fiction and 'philosophical discussion'. Like most utopists, he has indicated a series of modifications which in his opinion would increase the aggregate of human happiness. Basically, Wells' idea of a perfect world would be if everyone were able to live a happy life. This book is written with an intimate knowledge of former ideal commonwealths and is a conscious attempt to describe a utopia that is not utopian. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: A Modern Utopia
• Author credits: H. G. Wells
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 21
• Listed recording duration: 10:11:01

Catalogue topics

• economics
• politics
• society
• laws
• freedoms
• idealism

Track guide

1. 00 - Introduction: The Owner of the Voice — 12:08
2. 01 - Chapter 1: Topographical — 41:41
3. 02 - Chapter 2: Concerning Freedoms, Sections 1-3 — 31:17
4. 03 - Chapter 2: Concerning Freedoms, Sections 4-7 — 24:03
5. 04 - Chapter 3: Utopian Economics, Sections 1-4 — 42:41
6. 05 - Chapter 3: Utopian Economics, Sections 5-8 — 32:59
7. 06 - Chapter 4: The Voice of Nature — 28:54
8. 07 - Chapter 5: A Failure in a Modern Utopia, Sections 1-3 — 25:29
9. 08 - Chapter 5: A Failure in a Modern Utopia, Sections 4-8 — 25:56
10. 09 - Chapter 6: Women in a Modern Utopia, Sections 1-4 — 37:27
11. 10 - Chapter 6: Women in a Modern Utopia, Sections 5-6 — 30:38
12. 11 - Chapter 7: A Few Utopian Impressions, Sections 1-3 — 24:43
13. 12 - Chapter 7: A Few Utopian Impressions, Sections 4-7 — 24:19
14. 13 - Chapter 8: My Utopian Self — 13:43
15. 14 - Chapter 9: The Samurai, Sections 1-3 — 28:43
16. 15 - Chapter 9: The Samurai, Sections 4-5 — 25:40
17. 16 - Chapter 9: The Samurai, Sections 6-8 — 30:17
18. 17 - Chapter 10: Race in Utopia, Sections 1-2 — 35:15
19. 18 - Chapter 10: Race in Utopia, Sections 3-5 — 26:35
20. 19 - Chapter 11: The Bubble Bursts — 32:22
21. 20 - Appendix, Scepticism of the Instrument — 36:28

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.