Looking Backward: 2000-1887: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Looking Backward: 2000-1887, credited to Edward Bellamy, 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 Looking Backward: 2000-1887, by Edward Bellamy. Read by Anna Simon. Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy, , first published in 1888. It was the third largest bestseller of its time, after Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia. This book outlines Bellamy's complex thoughts about improving the future, and is an indictment of industrial capitalism. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Looking Backward: 2000-1887
• Author credits: Edward Bellamy
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 17
• Listed recording duration: 7:45:05

Catalogue topics

• science fiction
• utopia
• socialism
• capitalism
• Boston

Track guide

1. 01 - Preface & Chapter 1 — 22:13
2. 02 - Chapter 2 & 3 — 25:49
3. 03 - Chapter 4 & 5 — 27:18
4. 04 - Chapter 6 & 7 — 22:34
5. 05 - Chapter 8 & 9 — 31:22
6. 06 - Chapter 10 & 11 — 30:06
7. 07 - Chapter 12 — 22:41
8. 08 - Chapter 13 & 14 — 30:44
9. 09 - Chapter 15 & 16 — 26:58
10. 10 - Chapter 17 & 18 — 26:51
11. 11 - Chapter 19, 20 & 21 — 35:58
12. 12 - Chapter 22 — 31:10
13. 13 - Chapter 23 & 24 — 12:41
14. 14 - Chapter 25 — 23:56
15. 15 - Chapter 26 — 34:15
16. 16 - Chapter 27 — 21:15
17. 17 - Chapter 28 — 39:22

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

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.