"The Iron Standard" - [Henry] [Kuttner] (1914-58); [Catherine Lucille] [Moore] (1911-87) (Astounding Science Fiction 32.4 (December 1943), 1943)
Flawed utopia on a Venus that sees its system, thousands of years old, as perfect and allows no innovation, which benefits those in power. Men from Earth upset the system
Keywords: Female author; Male author; US author

"It Happened Tomorrow” - Robert [Albert] Bloch (1917-94) (Astounding Stories, 1943)
The dystopia created when machines revolt and the effect on the lives of ordinary people.
Rpt. in The Devil With You! The Lost Bloch, Volume 1. Ed. David J. Schlow (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 1999), 161-206, with a “Foreword” by Bloch on 161-62.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Let's Triumvirate or Man, Government and Happiness. A Philosophy of Man and a World-Wide Government Founded Upon Laws of Nature - Oswald Francis Zahn (b. 1874) (Author, 1943)
Detailed eutopia based on Uupolach or the universal urge principle of love and happiness, which is ". . . a strong desire or urge for, a thrilling, joyous ecstasy or emotion of order, harmony, concord, betterment, pleasure, happiness, contentment, universal love, charity, kindness and gratitude" (18). Argues that there is evidence of a former eutopia on Earth. The first step to the new eutopia is "honest information", and he gives "A Code for Honest Information" (235-55). The new "Triumvirate System" will divide the world into equal parts (suggested maps are provided), with various subdivisions so that every voter (all adults) will know personally the person they vote for.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Lost Traveller - Ruthven [Campbell] Todd (1914-78) (The Grey Walls Press, 1943)
Surrealist fantasy of an imaginary country that is an authoritarian dystopia. At the end the protagonist turns into a bird.
Rpt. with the Craxton drawings and "An Attempt at a Preface" (1-6) by the author. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1968.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

A Mechanistic or a Human Society? - Wilfred Wellock (1879-1972) ([Ptd. by The Hereford Times for Wilfred Wellock, Quinton, Birmingham], 1943)
A pamphlet that decries the dominance of machines and the machine-mentality they produce. The author calls for a simpler life based on traditional English agriculture and decentralization to the village level or a “land-based democracy” (15). Cooperation. Regionalism. In his “Introduction” to the U.S. ed. Tamplin argues for the use of machines “more on the behalf of freeing and benefiting man” (2) and says, “Our society is itself a great mechanistic structure” (3). He says he is sure Wellock would agree.
U.S. ed. [New York: Decentralist Press, 1945]], with an “Introduction” (2-3) by Richard T. Tamplin.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Mr. Mirakel - E[dward] Phillips Oppenheim (1886-1946) (Hodder & Stoughton, 1943)
A small enclave during World War II that survives Earth's revolt against war. Very upper class eutopia.
U.S. ed. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1943
Keywords: English author; Male author

Perelandra - C[live] S[taples] Lewis (1898-1963) (John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1943)
Second volume of a trilogy on the battle between good and evil. Re-enactment of the Adam and Eve myth on Venus but with no Fall. Stresses closeness to animals. The other volumes of the trilogy are 1938 and 1945 Lewis. In addition, one of the major characters of the trilogy appears in 1977 Lewis.
Rpt. New York: Scribner Classics, 1996. Rpt. as Voyage to Venus. London: Pan, 1953.
Keywords: English author; Male author; Northern Ireland author

“They Came to a City. A Play in Two Acts” - J[ohn] B[oynton] Priestley (1894-1984) (Three Plays, 1943)
The eutopia that might be possible in post-war Britain as seen through the eyes of characters representative of contemporary Britain. Only some see it positively.
Rpt. without the subtitle in his Four Plays (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1944), 151-221. Rpt. as “They Came to a City: A Play in Two Acts.” In The Plays of J.B. Priestley. Volume III (London: William Heinemann, 1950), 139-201 with a brief note by Priestley on xi.
Keywords: English author; Male author

A Voyage to Venus - Dominic[k] Healy (1896-1954?) (Currawong Publishing Co, 1943)
Two eutopias. The first, briefly described, is a socialist eutopia based on state-controlled trusts that developed on Earth after World War II. No unemployment. Much technological improvement. The Confederated States of America include all of North and South America. The second eutopia is on Venus and is a technologically based cockaigne, at least as far as food is concerned, with, for example, a Delicatessen Forest. Venus is one country with one government. Everything on Venus standardized and visitors from the old Earth find it too perfect. Much of the novel is taken up with the conflicts this produces.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author; Northern Ireland author

The Weapon Makers - A[lfred] E[lton] van Vogt (1912-2000) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1943)
A very early example of libertarian science fiction in that it champions the opposition to an oppressive government through the easy distribution of weapons. See also 1949 Van Vogt.
Repub. Providence, RI: Hadley Publishing Co., 1947. U.K. ed. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1954. Also published as One against Eternity. New York: Ace Books, 1955. An Ace Double bound with Murray Leinster The Other Side of Here.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author; US author

When Adolf Came. A Novel - Martin Hawkin[s] (Jarrold's Ltd, 1943)
Dystopia in which Germany wins World War II but the English fight on.
Keywords: Male author

Where the Stars Are Born - George [Thomas] Spaull (1876-1965) (William Brooks & Co, 1943)
A young adult novel describing a eutopia with no money, no warfare, work for all, and technological advances.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Why Was I Killed? A Dramatic Dialogue - Rex [Reginald Ernest] Warner (1905-86) (John Lane, 1943)
A dead soldier asks the question, which is discussed by seven people, with the soldier observing the discussion and the stages of each individual’s past that led them to take the position they do. In one chapter, “The New Order” (92-111), the soldier observes life under the Nazi regime and in a concentration camp.
Rpt. London: Faber & Faber, 2008.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"World Beyond the Sky" - Robert Moore Williams (1907-77) (Startling Stories (Chicago, IL), 1943)
Dystopia. A world that had been eutopian, having conquered disease, tamed the planet, and provided a good life for all was perceived to be weak by some who created an authoritarian, violent dystopia "correcting" the faults of the eutopia. People from Earth help to defeat the dystopia and future contact is planned.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The 21st Century Sizes Us Up - E[manuel] Robert Posnack (b. 1897) (Loder Appeal Press, 1942)
Introduction to 1946 Posnack emphasizing the current situation from the perspective of the 21st century. The last few pages lay out what he is going to cover in the later book.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Barrier" - [William Anthony Parker] [White] (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1942)
The future has established barriers to time travelers, and the period presented here is an authoritarian dystopia with limits to try to keep change from happening. The ideal is "Stasis."
Rpt. in Spectrum IV: A Science Fiction Anthology. Ed. Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest (London: Victor Gollancz, 1965), 134-88; in From Mind to Mind: Tales of Communication from Analog. At head of title Analog Anthology #9. Ed. Stanley Schmidt (New York: Dial Press Davis Publications, 1984), 7-47; and in The Compleat Boucher: The Complete Short Science Fiction and Fantasy of Anthony Boucher. Ed. James A. Mann (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 1998), 165-201.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Breakdown" - Jack [John Stewart] Williamson (1908-2006) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1942)
Dystopia of union domination. The author says that it is not intended to be anti-labor but "to contrast the forces of social creation and the facts of social stagnation" (People Machines, 153).
U.K. ed. Astounding Science Fiction 28. 5 (January 1942): 2-19. Rpt. in U.K. ed. Astounding Science Fiction 8.1 (December 1951): 2-36; in Journey to Infinity. Ed. Martin Greenberg (New York: Gnome Press, 1951), 110-44; in his People Machines (New York: Ace Books, 1971), 154-87, with an author’s note on 151-53; and in The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson Volume Seven: With Folded Hands and Searching Mind (Royal Oak, MI: Haffner Press, 2010), 19-54.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Change of Heart - Mea Allan (1909-82) (George G. Harrap, 1942)
Dystopia set in post-World War II Germany in which a committed National Socialist develops a plan to become the next Führer with his infant son to follow him in that role.
Keywords: Female author; Male author; Scottish author

Christianity and Social Order - William Temple Archbishop of York (1881-1944) (Penguin Books, 1942)
Nonfiction that lays out of the principles for a Christian democratic socialist eutopia after the war.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"City of Glass" - Noel [Miller] Loomis (1905-69) (Startling Stories (Chicago, IL), 1942)
Far future earth with two societies at war over diminished resources. One, while authoritarian, is attempting to create a decent life; the other, in which most of the people are starving, is an authoritarian dictatorship. Free trade solves the problem. A related story is his “Iron Men.” Startling Stories (Chicago, IL) 11.3 (Winter 1945): 11-65.
Repub. as The City of Glass: A Complete Science Fiction Novel. New York: Columbia Publishers, 1955.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Darkness and the Light - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) (Methuen, 1942)
Eutopia and dystopia presented as two alternative future histories. The dystopia is extrapolated from the situation as it existed in 1942. In the eutopia that situation is overcome and for a time a eutopia based on villages develops. Following that, the human race goes through periods of decline and advance until a new and higher human type develops.
Rpt. Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1974. Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 28-42.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Drives Toward War - Edward Chace Tolman (1856-1959) (D. Appleton-Century Co, 1942)
Essay but includes a short conclusion called a utopia (100-12) describing the society necessary, from the point of view of a psychologist, for avoiding war. This society must not frustrate basic biological needs, encourage identification with "acceptable authority figures," and create a "supranational state" to which people will feel more loyalty than to their nation-state (102).
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Great Conflict - Hal [Harold Curtis] Hall (Ptd. by the Haynes Corp, 1942)
Eutopia set in 2009. A man who had been living in a remote, isolated valley returns to find a new civilization. The US New Deal program is completed and produces a eutopia, which is made possible by extending democracy beyond the merely political.
Keywords: Male author

History of the Utopian Society of America; An Authentic Account of Its Origin and Development Up to 1942 - Newton Van Dalsem (The Utopian Society, 1942)
Eutopia. Detailed reform based on the right of employment that provides an income providing an appropriate standard of living.
Parts originally published as "Utopias, Past and Present." The Roman Forum 8.8 - 9 (November - December 1939): 5-10, 4-11.
Keywords: Male author

I Am the World. A Romance - Peter Vansittart (1920-2008) (Chatto & Windus, 1942)
Imaginary country in which a young man plans to overthrow the monarchy and become dictator. Conflict, love, and religion.
Keywords: English author; Male author

I, James Blunt - H[enry Canova] V[ollom] Morton (1892-1979) (Methuen, 1942)
Dystopia in which Germany wins World War II and sets about destroying Britain.
Canadian ed. Toronto, ON, Canada: Dodd, Mead, 1942.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Islandia - Austin Tappan Wright (1883-1931) (Farrar & Rinehart, 1942)
One of the most comprehensive eutopias ever written. The eutopia focuses on family, home, and place. Islandians are country dwellers who live on one farm for generations and only temporarily move to cities. No rich or poor even though there are aristocrats and denerir, who work on the land but have absolute right in both law and custom, which is more important than law in Islandia, to their land and homes. Considerable detail on the different expressions of love, with sexual love the least important. See also 1969, 1979, and 1982 Saxton.
Rpt. New York: New American Library, 1970; New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1971; and Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press/London: Duckworth Press, 2001 with an “Introduction” by John Silbersack (v-x). A selection was rpt. as “The Story of Alwina.” Elsewhere. Ed. Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold (New York: Ace Books, 1981), 164-86. Additional material by Wright was summarized by Basil Davenport (1905-66), An Introduction to Islandia: its history, customs, laws, language, and geography as prepared by Basil Davenport from “Islandia: History and Description” by Jean Perrier, first French Consul to Islandia, and translated by John Lang, first American Consul. With Maps drawn by John Lang. Toronto, ON, Canada: Farrar and Rinehart, 1942, which includes a bibliography, population statistics, notes on the climate, and a glossary created by Wright.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"New Order" - Edward [Falaise] Upward (1903-2009) (The Penguin New Writing, 1942)
Brief description of the dystopia that develops as the result of loss in a war with some suggestion of the development of resistance.
Rpt. in his The Railway Accident and Other Stories (London: Heinemann, 1969), 220-22.
Keywords: English author; Male author

New Trade Winds for the Seven Seas - Alaric J. Roberts (J. F. Rowny Press, 1942)
The “Dedication” (v) says that the book portrays “a practical and workable plan for stabilizing the economic structure of the entire world,” but the bulk of the book is an adventure story in which a group of friends enter a cave and go deep into the Earth where, after many trials and tribulations, the discovery a fully functioning Atlantis and Lemuria, which are described as eutopias. Only in the last pages is the plan for Earth revealed, which includes an international board that would control the exports of raw materials of all countries, an international currency to be used for trade, and international birth control.
Keywords: Male author

Other Worlds - J[ohn] W[inton] Heming (1900-1953) (Currawong, 1942)
A trip to Mercury and Venus, which are both eutopias of sorts. The people of Mercury are deaf and communicate with gestures. Mercury practices negative eugenics, killing children who show signs of disease or violence, although the practice has succeeded and is rarely needed. No disease because all germs have been eliminated. Termite-like society with a Queen for giving birth. Most children are neuter. No individuality. Bred for a particular occupation. Equal pay. On Venus the people do not wear clothes, have no noses, eat grass, and live in hollows in the banks of rivers or oceans.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

“Overthrow” - Cleve Cartmill (1908-64) (Astounding Science Fiction, 1942)
Authoritarian dystopia. Conflict among corporation.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Pack Rat: A Metaphoric Fantasy - Francis Clement Kelley (1870-1948) (Bruce Publishing Co, 1942)
Dystopian satire on the politics of the time.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The People's Plan for a New Order: Giving Twenty-four Points for Reconstruction of the Present Orthodox System of Economics - Chas. [Charles] E[dward] Phillips J.P., A.P.A.N.Z. (The Unity Press Ltd, 1942)
Proposes the establishment of New Zealand Ltd. which would issue "negotiable, non-interest bearing debentures" that must be used within a specified period of time. New Zealand Ltd. would provide all national and local finance and hold all national and local assets and liabilities. Dividends paid to all citizens over 21 (40 in the first year), all of whom are required to work if needed. There is no evidence that this is connected with The People's Plan of the Dominion Reconstruction Conference of the same year.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

"Tarnished Utopia" - Malcolm Jameson (1891-1945) (Startling Stories (Chicago, IL), 1942)
Authoritarian dystopia with slavery and torture followed by a successful revolt.
Repub. New York: Galaxy, 1956. Galaxy Science Fiction Novel No. 27.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"This Precious Freedom" - Arch Oboler (1907-87) (This Precious Freedom; Thirteen New Radio Plays, 1942)
Dystopia in which the U.S. is invaded by a totalitarian regime.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Is This Utopia? A Plan of Life in the Post-War World. Equality of Education Equality of Opportunity No Unemployment Wages for Wives Children's Allowances - Frank R. Johnson (Ptd. by Perry Brothers Ltd., The Hotspur Press, 1942)
Socialist eutopia for post war Britain in essay form. All adults receive a minimum income, and there is a children's allowance until sixteen. Free medical and dental care. Better housing and more open space.
Keywords: Male author

Time Marches Off - [John] [Winton] [Heming] (1900-1953) (Currawong Publishing, 1942)
Humorous science fiction. Time travel into a series of future Australias set between 2050 and 4000. The first presents a scientifically advanced dictatorship where everyone has a number and individual thinking is discouraged. The rest present the struggle between men and women, with women dominant in most of them, although in one, animals are in control and everyone lives underground. Eventually most men are killed off and the men traveling from the past take advantage of the situation. Much better written than the usual Heming work. Graham Stone in Notes on Australian Science Fiction. (Sydney, NSW: Graham Stone, 2001), 28 says that it was originally written as a play.
Rpt. under the author's name Sydney, NSW: Graham Stone, 1997.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Try Another World; A Saga coursing its way through the six adventures of Joe Shaun which thrilled the village of Caryldale - John J[oseph] Meyer (1873-1948) (The Business Bourse, 1942)
Cerebroland is a planet in contact with the Godhead. As a result, the people become good. Atro is a planet where everyone is absolutely frank, which is supposed to produce eutopia but creates a dystopia instead. The protagonist also visits the Tarcorned World, where all the nations are at war, Redonia, a world to which an entire nation immigrates to avoid the war, and Nosaer--the Mentator World, which is a eutopia. The Mentator is a "mind-machine" which imbues people with telepathy. 1935 Meyer includes the Mentator. See also 1917 Meyer.
2nd rev. ed as. The Immortal Tales of Joe Shaun: An enchanting artist makes the five immortal hopes and dreams of mankind come true. DELIGHTFUL CATNIP FOR THE MIND. A satire on the stark realities; spiced with the greatest love story ever told; and blended with bewitching fantasy on the five freedoms of the cosmos. Yonkers, NY: The Carydale Library, [1944]. Other than the title, the only differences are that in the later edition no author is given for the “Introduction” and a “Prevue” summarizing the text. A note in the 1944 edition says that some of the material had been published previously.
Keywords: Male author; US author

An Unknown Land - Viscount [Herbert Louis] Samuel (1870-1963) (George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1942)
An explorer comes to believe that Belsalem, the country described in Bacon’s New Atlantis (1627) must exist and searches for, and discovers, it. Here the basis for the utopia is a treatment that enlarges the brain, and in addition to the science and technology central to the New Atlantis, there is great stress on health and mental activity. All knowledge had been sifted for truth. Work consists mostly of overseeing machines. No money. The family is sacrosanct and birth control produces a stable population. Little government need; some administration. The book concludes with two appendices. The first is “A Note on the Changing Shape of the Skull” (215-216) that consists of abstracts from Sir Janes Frazer’s the Golden Bough. Vol. 2 The Magic Art, 297. The second is “Scientific Discoveries” (217-221) and presents more information on three points in the book, the Nature of Light, Positive and negative electricity, and the Mental Ambience.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The White Race is Supreme. Racial Education Based upon Spiritual, Scientific fact and General Observation. A White Woman’s Soul Turns Black. The White Man’s Toleration Is All to Blame - Father W[illiam] E. Riker (1873-1969) (Holy City Press, 1942)
Racist eutopia as reflected in the title. See also [194-] Riker, The Perfect Government.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Adam Link Faces a Revolt" - [Earl Andrew] [Binder] (1904-65); [Otto Oscar] [Binder] (1911-75) (Amazing Stories (Chicago, IL), 1941)
Flawed utopia in which robots prove as intractable as humans.
Keywords: Male author; US author

An Address--supposed to be spoken on 24 January, 1992 - Arnold Freeman (Author, 1941)
A eutopia in essay form inspired by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian founder of Anthroposophy, and which mentions his "threefold social commonwealth." The date is the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the World-Commonwealth of Mankind. Business and education are supposed to be free from state interference, but policy is still set by Parliament. Charter of Workers' Rights--shorter working day, better working conditions, and increased rates of pay. Stress on the "production of food, clothing, houses, cigars and all the other essentials of existence" (13).
Keywords: Male author

The Aerodrome: A Love Story - Rex [Reginald Ernest] Warner (1905-86) (John Lane, 1941)
Dystopia in which a military leader imposes his very restrictive version of military discipline on a rapidly expanding airfield and the area around it. He plans to take over all of Britain. He argues that women should be used sexually by the airmen as long as no children are born, and no long-term attachment develops.
Rpt. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1982, with an “Introduction” by Anthony Burgess (9-12); London: Vintage books, 2008 with an “Introduction” by Michael [John] Moorcock ([ix-xx]). U.S. ed. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott, [1946]. Rpt. with the subtitle A Novel. London: John Lane, 1944; and as New ed. with the subtitle A Novel. London: John Lane, 1946; U.S. Ed. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott, 1946. Rpt. with the subtitle A Novel and the “Introduction” by Burgess (9-12). London: The Bodley Head, 1982. Rpt. with the original subtitle London: The Bodley Head, 1966, with an “Introduction” by Angus Wilson (9-11); U.S. ed. Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press Book/Little, Brown and Co., 1966, with the “Introduction” by Angus Wilson (9-11); rpt. New York: Ballantine Books, 1969, with the “Introduction” by Angus Wilson (xi-xiii). Most of the many have the original subtitle.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Atlantis" - W[ystan] H[ugh] Auden (1907-73) (Christianity and Society, 1941)
The struggle to reach utopia, particularly the diversions on the way.
Rpt. in The Collected Poetry of W.H. Auden (New York: Random House, 1945), 20-22; in Collected Shorter Poems, 1927-1957 (New York: Random House, 1967), 202-204; Selected Poems. Ed. Edward Mendelson (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 116-118; and in The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Poems. Volume II 1940-1973. Ed. Edward Mendelson (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022), 232-234, with a Textual Note on 873.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"The British Countryside in 1951" - H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells (1866-1946) (Guide to the New World: A Handbook of Constructive World Revolution, 1941)
A very brief eutopia based on Germany being defeated in the war, the air coming under the control of a world authority, the establishment of world law based on a Declaration of Rights (included in the book 49-54), and the adoption of socialism. Some of the countryside has been allowed to return to its natural state and areas have been reforested. Villages have more amenities. Children from the cities will spend much time in the country. The old stately homes have been turned into country clubs and hotels. In “Future Cities” (96-97), he says that in this essay and “Uprooted People” (94-95), he was “trying to Imagine the face of the world in 1951, if civilisation wins the war” (92).
Keywords: English author; Male author

A Common Enemy - J[ohn] D[avys] Beresford (1873-1947) (Hutchinson, 1941)
The novel begins with a world-wide disaster brought about by an object passing through the solar system that throws the Earth's orbit off, causing massive storms and world-wide shifts in land, and moving Earth closer to the sun. This ends World War II because most of Germany is flooded. In Britain, led by a man who recognizes that the disaster provides a common enemy that pulls people together, the rebuilding process slowly produces a socialist eutopia. Democracy rejected at the national level, but local democracy is being created. At the end of the novel, although the U.S. is recreating competitive capitalism, Europeans are in the process of creating similar cooperative systems.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Eucalyptus - [William] Hardy Wilson (1881-1955) (Author, 1941)
A summary through autobiography of his various works presenting ideal cities. See also 1920, 1929, 1934, 1949 Wilson.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Frolics in Politics - John Macleod (Currawong, 1941)
Humor. Satire on the politics of the imaginary country of Fantasia (bounded on all sides by Utopia), which is Australia.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author; Scottish author

Happiness Highway - [Edith] [Sutherland] (Whitcombe and Tombs, 1941)
Eutopia reflecting the position of the 1942 Crusade for Social Justice and 1943 The People's Plan in which Christian values are put into practice.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Female author; Male author

"Island in the Sky" - Manly Wade Wellman (1903-86) (Thrilling Wonder Stories (New York), 1941)
Authoritarian dystopia including gladiators required to fight.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The New World Order And How It Will Be Established: The World, As it was; As it is; And as it will be. An intensely interesting and thought-provoking book - J[oseph] E[dward] Paynter (1868-1960) ([Ptd by Clarke & Stuart], 1941)
British Israelism detailing the Mosaic system of representation (the decimal systems used by John Eliot and others) and the way that the Israel nations will become united. Includes a “Lecture Delivered by Request to the British Israel World Federation October 18th, 1939” (158-62) and a one page “Articles of Association Brotherhood of United Israel” (163).
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author

Newtopia; The World We Want - Philip Whitewell Wilson (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1941)
Eutopia. Newtopians are average people who are mostly focused on their homes. Most of the book is on current conditions and the war in particular. The eutopian aspects of the book focus on the conditions that will allow people to lead a decent life. International unity is one such condition, and the author refers to 1939 Streit. Reformed capitalism. Christian but more generally religious.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Read What Happened on the Island of Nogi, or Why Business is Bad - J[oseph] W[illiam] Parker (J. W. Parker Optometrist, 1941)
Anti-capitalist allegory set on the island of Nogi, which was a successful, balanced economy until a capitalist arrived and destroyed the economy. ". . . the moral of this story is that the insurance companies, the food trust and other large corporations are taking away from the public billions of dollars in excess profits which they are unable to either use or lend. The result is exactly what we should expect.” (7). See also 1935 Parker.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Samsons - Alberic A. Archambault (b. 1887) (Bruce Humphries, 1941)
Includes both eutopian and dystopian elements and both a statement of the importance of Jews to the American economy and stereotyped depictions of Jews. The Samsons, a secret society, organizes itself to eliminate persecution of Jews by removing all Jews to a compound in Mexico, thus destroying the U.S. economy.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Sanity Island. A Novel - Adrian [Richard] Alington (1895-1958) (Chatto and Windus, 1941)
Satire. Humorous rearmament. People must laugh at themselves more and, in particular, laugh at the ridiculousness of their political leaders.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Saturnalia in the Suburbs - John Nicholas (Heath Cranton, 1941)
Satire set in 1988 in which everyone in the suburbs takes a day for enjoyment. Poem.
Keywords: Male author

"Sixth Column" - [Robert Anson] [Heinlein] (1907-88) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1941)
Authoritarian dystopia and the revolt against it. The United States had been invaded by an Asian army and only six people were left alive in a U.S. military research establishment. They manage to defeat the invaders. 1943 Leiber is something of a response.
Rpt. as by Robert A[nson] Heinlein. Sixth Column: A Science Fiction Novel of Strange Intrigue. New York: Gnome, 1949; and as The Day After Tomorrow. New York: New American Library, 1949. Rpt. as Sixth Column as vol. 30 of The Virginia Edition of his works. Houston, TX: The Virginia Edition, 2007; and as Sixth Column. New York Baen, 2012 with an "Introduction" by William H. Patterson (v-vii) and an "Afterword" by Tom Kratman (173-83).
Keywords: Male author; US author

Sown in the Darkness A.D. 2,000 - William Richard Twiford (Orlin Tremaine, 1941)
A racist, anticommunist eutopia in which there is a struggle between whites and coloreds. The whites win and enforce segregation. The Appendices (308-71) describe a new currency, a new calendar, an improved Braille alphabet, some inventions, and a number of major projects designed to keep employment high such as building new mountains which will provide electric power by creating new waterfalls.
Keywords: Male author

The Star Called Wormwood: An Investigation of the possible reasons for its Decline and Fall as described in the VIIIth chapter of The Apocalypse - [Oliver] [Stonor] (Victor Gollancz, 1941)
Anti-war, anti-utopian novel set in 1839 and 2839
Keywords: Male author

"Stolen Dormouse" - L[yon] Sprague De Camp (1907-2000) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1941)
Future dystopia with a new feudalism based on corporations.
U.K. ed. Astounding Science Fiction 27.2 (April 1941): 2-41. Rpt in his Divide and Rule (Reading, PA: Fantasy Press, 1948), 139-231.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“Uprooted Peoples” - H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells (1866-1946) (Guide to the New World: A Handbook of Constructive World Revolution, 1941)
Very brief eutopia of a post-war “Britain in a federal world, completely socialist and sharing a common freedom of all mankind. . .” while there remains a clear continuity with the past, but with what he calls “nomadism” (94). “In a federated world, political forms will cease to be territorial, will be subordinated [95] to world unionism and professionalism” (94-95). In the next essay, “Future Cities” (96-97), he says that in “The British Countryside in 1951” (92-93) and this essay, he was “trying to Imagine the face of the world in 1951, if civilisation wins the war” (92).
Keywords: English author; Male author

Utopia Right Around the Corner. Non-Factual. A Story of Fiction Told As If It Were Factual - Nathan Walton (H.J. Kemp Co, 1941)
Social scientists bring about eutopia by controlling the environment. Scientific administration. Get rid of all politicians.
Keywords: Male author

"What Dreams May Come..." - J[ohn] D[avys] Beresford (1873-1947) (Hutchinson, 1941)
A man in contemporary, wartime Britain dreams of the future of another world that had had a past like Earth's but is now a communal eutopia. The dreams are presented initially through the dreams of the man as a young boy. The dreams, which he could sometimes access at will even while awake, provided an escape from an unhappy home life, and much of the novel concerns the boy’s life as he matures. He is able to live there for a longer period after being injured in a World War 2 air raid and falling into a coma. Returning to the war, he is arrested for subversion for talking about his experience. In the future there have been significant physical changes in the human race. Telepathy is normal. Sexual differences are less obvious. Only thirty books are considered worth reading. Vegetarian with no cooking.
Keywords: English author; Male author

America Betrayed; Save the Nation - Albert D. Nelson (Suttonhouse, 1940)
Dystopia projecting a Japanese (cleverly disguised as Lapanese in the book) attempt to undermine the U.S. government in preparation for an invasion.
Keywords: Male author

“A Ceremonial” - Paul Goodman (1911-72) (New Directions in Prose and Poetry 1940, 1940)
Post-revolution eutopia which has eliminated capitalism presented through a ceremony at the destruction of some of the last billboards.
Rpt. in his The Facts of Life (New York: The Vanguard Press, 1945), 45-62; his Adam and His Works: Collected Stories (New York: Vintage Books, 1968); 32-45; and A Ceremonial. Stories 1936-1940. Volume II of the Collected Stories. Ed. Taylor Stoehr (Santa Barbara, CA: Black Sparrow Press, 1978), 107-21.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Coventry" - Robert A[nson] Heinlein (1907-88) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1940)
Dystopias and a eutopia set after the revolution against the religious dystopia of Heinlein's 1940 "If This Goes On", better known as Revolt in 2100. Four societies are depicted, three of them in the area known as Coventry and the fourth the eutopian society created after the revolution that sends people to Coventry as a punishment for harming another citizen. The three dystopias are New America, a corrupt democracy; the Free State, a dictatorship; and the Angels, the remnants of the overthrown religious dystopia.
Rpt. in his The Past Through Tomorrow: "Future History" Stories (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1967), 471-508; and in The Future History of Robert Heinlein: Volume II. Vol. 23 of the Virginia edition of his works (Houston, TX: The Virginia Edition, 2010), 181-230.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Crimson Courage - Daniel O'Den (Frederick Muller, 1940)
Fairly standard authoritarian dystopia with a stress on the rejection of religion.
Keywords: Male author

Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler (1905-83) (Jonathan Cape, 1940)
A famous work describing the Show Trials in the U.S.S.R. under Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) that has been called a dystopia and has been very influential on dystopian literature.
Rpt. London: The Folio Society, 1980 with an “Introduction” (7-15) by Vladimir Bukovsky. U.S. ed. New York: Macmillan, 1941. Because the original manuscript was assumed to have been lost, all publications of the novel, including German ones, were based on this translation, but it was discovered in 2015, and a new translation by Philip Boehm based on that manuscript has been published. London: Vintage Classics, 2019. U.S. ed. New York: Scribner, 2019.
Keywords: Austrian author; English author; Hungarian author; Male author

The Disappearance of General Jason - Percival Christopher Wren (1885-1941) (John Murray, 1940)
Lost race eutopia that rejects modern technology.
Rpt. London: Tom Stacey Reprints, 1973.
Keywords: Male author

Elizabeth in Africa - Florence A[ntoinette] Kilpatrick (1888-1968) (Herbert Jenkins, 1940)
Humorous lost race novel with all the usual plot lines.
Keywords: English author; Female author; Male author

Final Blackout - L[a Fayette] Ron[ald] Hubbard (1911-86) (Astounding Science Fiction, 1940)
Primarily a novel of adventure and war set against the background of a collapsed Europe after the war. In addition to the dystopia that is the European continent, there is a dystopian socialist Britain that is overthrown by returning troops, which is then overthrown by the U.S. so that it can take over Britain.
Repub. Providence, RI: Hadley Publishing Co., 1948, with a new “Preface” by the author (ix-xi). Rpt. North Hollywood, CA: Leisure Books, 1970; New York: Garland, 1975; and Los Angeles, CA: Bridge Publications, 1992, with the “Preface” (xix-xii), an “Introduction” by Algis Budrys (vii-xv) and an anonymous “About the Author L. Ron Hubbard” (191-94).
Keywords: Male author; US author

First Port of Call - Elizabeth Garver Jordan (1867-1947) (D. Appleton-Century, 1940)
Purgatory fictionally described from a Roman Catholic viewpoint as a place where most people are preparing themselves for heaven. It is a pleasant transition period that has similarities to the many depictions of heaven as a eutopia little different from life on Earth.
U.K. ed. London: John Long, 1940.
Keywords: Female author; Male author; US author

The First to Awaken - Granville Hicks (1901-82); Richard M. Bennett (Modern Age Books, 1940)
Socialist eutopia based on cooperatives. There are few large cities and most people live in small cities, each of which is a democratically run cooperative. Decentralized production and distribution with cooperation among cooperatives and regional coordination. The system is essentially the same throughout the world.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Hopousia; or The Sexual and Economic Foundations of a New Society - J[ohn] D[aniel] Unwin (1895-1936) (George Allen and Unwin, 1940)
Detailed nonfictional eutopia with the emphasis on its sexual and economic foundations, but the whole is presented as an experiment. The author argues that a good society needs very energetic people and that will require reformed sexual and economic systems. Sexually energy comes from restraint, and he proposes two types of marriage, one that is strictly monogamous and one that is not, although with the possibility of moving between the two. Economically, capitalism must be eliminated together with private ownership of land and replaced with a form of guild socialism. The word "Hopousia" is derived from the Greek for where. There is an "Introduction" (13-29) by Aldous Huxley, who argues that while the basic institutions are sound, the approach is overly simple.
U.S. ed. New York: O. Piest, 1940. An extract was published as Our Economic Problems and Their Solution. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1944. 148 pp.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Humanism or the Human Religion - Swami Krishanand (The Vishwa Sewak Sangha, 1940)
Chapter 8 on "How to Put the Doctrine of Humanism into Practice or A Scheme of Works for the Beatification of the World" presents a eutopia. Annual meetings of an “All-world” body of citizens to consider improvements. A “Cosmic University” focusing on moral and religious training, the graduates of which will form a “Peace Army.” Encourage village political autonomy with a federal system for larger issues. World language. Enforcement of moral standards.
Keywords: Indian author; Male author

"The Idealist" - [La Fayette Ronald] [Hubbard] (1911-86) (Astounding Science Fiction, 1940)
Anti-utopian story. Idealists are doomed to failure.
Keywords: Male author; US author

If This Goes On-- - Robert A[nson] Heinlein (1907-88) (Astounding Science-Fiction (New York), 1940)
An American theocracy and the revolt against it.
Rpt. in his The Past Through Tomorrow: “Future History” Stories (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967), 361-470; and as part of Revolt in 2100: The Prophets and the Triumph of Reason Over Superstition (Chicago, IL: Shasta Publisher, 1953), 21-221, with two stories that are loosely related to “If This Goes On--”, “Coventry” (222-88), which is a utopia (see 1940 Heinlein, “Coventry”) and “Misfit” (289-317), which is non-utopian and reprinted from Astounding Science-Fiction (New York) 24.3 (November 1939): 53-67. In addition, Revolt in 2100 contains “The Innocent Eye: An Introduction” by Henry Kuttner (9-12) and “Concerning Stories Never Written” by Heinlein (13-19). Book rpt. without the subtitle New York: New American Library, 1955 with Kuttner's introduction (9-10); “‘If This Goes On--’” (11-129), “Coventry” (129-170), “Misfit” (170-88), and “Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript” (189-92); and New York: Baen Books, 1981 with Kuttner's introduction (ix-x); “‘If This Goes On--’” (1-139), “Coventry” (141-186), “Misfit” (187-208), and “Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript” (209-13); as Revolt in 2100 & Methuselah's Children. New York: Baen, 1999. with Kuttner’s introduction (3-5), “‘If This Goes On--’” (7-174), “Coventry” (175-233), “Misfit” (235-60), and “Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript” (261-66). U.K. ed. of Revolt in 2100. London: Gollancz, 1964 without the subtitle, Kuttner’s introduction, or “Concerning Stories Never Written”, with “‘If This Goes On--’” (9-209), “Coventry” (210-76), and “Misfit” (277-305).
Keywords: Male author; US author

King of the Underseas - J[ohn] W[inton] Heming (1900-1953) (Currawong Publishing, 1940)
Utopian adventure story. A socialist city of fishmen deep in the ocean. Women have multiple husbands. Conflict with another city and exploitation based on color. The human who discovers the city and is elected king defeats the other city and establishes racial equality before returning to the surface.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Manna - John [Edwards] Gloag (1896-1981) (Cassell and Co, 1940)
Dystopia. Manna (a plant that provides complete nourishment) grows wild. A reformation of social and political institutions begins and is suppressed. Manna is destroyed by governments.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Marsian - J[ohn] W[ilmer] Gilbert (b. 1865) (Fortuny's, 1940)
Detailed egalitarian, socialist eutopia that is very advanced technically. In the first part (7-83) the Marsian psychically visits a man on Earth and the focus is on Earth’s problems. The second part (85-156) shows the eutopian Mars.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Messiah on the Horizon. Romance? Novel? Revelation? Prophecy? Reality? - Solomon Cruso (1877-1977) (Audubon Publishing Co, 1940)
Eutopia. A future history and theological fantasy. End of the white race with Europe split off Earth to become a new moon and no whites remaining on Earth. A better society on Earth is brought about by Orientals and Jews in which all races have embraced Judaism. Hebrew is the international language. Deeply racist. Most of the novel is concerned with the history that led to this situation. See also 1933, which this book refers back to, and 1946 Cruso.
Keywords: Male author

Moscow 1979 - Erik [Maria Ritter] von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1909-99); Christiane von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (Sheed & Ward, 1940)
Communist dystopia successfully opposed by the Roman Catholic Church. The focus of the dystopia is Russia.
Rpt. London: Sheed & Ward, 1946. New and rev. ed. London: Sheed & Ward, 1946. U.S. ed. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1940. U.S. new and rev. ed. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1946.
Keywords: Austrian author; Female author; Male author

The Perfect Government: $25,000 Twenty-five Thousand Dollars Reward if Anyone Can Find a Flaw in it or Can Prove it Will Not Work Successfully - William E. Riker (1873-1969) (Father Riker of Holy City Inventor and Discoverer of the Perfect Government, 1940)
Eutopia. Government takes over banking, insurance, and all money lending. No hoarding of money and no moving money out of the country. The government provides full employment and cares for all disabled. Racist. Government known as “THE CHRISTIAN WHITE MAN PERFECT GOVERNMENT.” Includes The Constitution of Holy City Its Laws and Principles (15-16), although it is mostly general principles rather than a formal constitution. See also [1942?] Riker, The White Race is Supreme.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Roads Must Roll" - Robert A[nson] Heinlein (1907-88) (Astounding Science-Fiction (New York), 1940)
Society organized around moving roadways.
U.K. ed. Astounding-Science Fiction 25.4 (June 1940): 9-37. Rpt in his The Past Through Tomorrow: “Future History” Stories (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967), 30-59; and in his The Future History of Robert Heinlein: Volume 1. Vol. 22 of the Virginia edition of his works (Houston, TX: The Virginia Edition, 2010), 51-89.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Rosscommon - Charles Allen Smart (1904-67) (Random House, 1940)
Detailed description of a fictional intentional community. Egalitarian except that African Americans were not welcome and did not join. People were paid salaries with allowances for children and had to pay only for purely personal expenses. Varied work. School is important with a stress on the subjects needed in the community like agriculture, animal husbandry, “home crafts” and “shop crafts,” with science and mathematics and history and literature in addition.
Keywords: Male author

Suzanna and the Elders: An American Comedy - Lawrence Langner (1890-1962); Armina Marshall [Langner] (Random House, 1940)
Failure of an intentional community with close resemblances to the Oneida Community, including its eugenic experiment. The failure follows initial success, with the usual internal conflicts a major factor. The "Preface" (7-14) on the history of such communities in the U.S. has errors, such as calling Brook Farm Brookfield and ascribing the establishment of New Harmony to Robert Dale Owen (1801-77) rather than to his father Robert Owen (1771-1858).
Keywords: Female author; Male author

The Trumpet - John F. Cramer (Silk and Terry, 1940)
Flawed utopia. Machine perfection is dystopian.
Keywords: Male author

Utopia, Inc - Herman Everett Gieske (Fortuny's, 1940)
Capitalist, scientific eutopia. Stress on battle with Communism. A capitalist endows an island to give free reign to scientists.
Keywords: Male author

Vision of a State of Rightness on a Spiritual Foundation. A Short Outline of Government Whereby All Men Have the Same Rights and Privileges With the Capitalistic System Abolished - Henry C[ornelius] Denturk (b. 1880) (Author, 1940)
A communal eutopia with a "Civilian Army". No money. No international trade except for things the U.S. cannot produce. Few laws. Races live separately but can visit each other.
Keywords: Male author

When Loneliness Comes - Geo[rge] A[lan] Glenn (Author, 1940)
Lost race eutopia set in the South American jungle presented as if discovered on an actual expedition by the author. Emphasis on sexual activity as essential to health and the way it can lead to physical rejuvenation with photographs of the author before and after the expedition.
Keywords: Male author; US author

When the Soviets Come to America - C[lement] E[verett] Puterbaugh (Fortuny's, 1940)
Dystopia reflecting the title followed by a successful revolution.
Keywords: Male author

"World Without Sex" - [Edmond Moore] [Hamilton] (1904-77) (Marvel Tales (Chicago, IL), 1940)
Sex role reversal dystopia in which men, who had been enslaved, revolt and restore the "natural order" through violence with the focus on a man who beats a captured woman into "loving" him (and he her) after raping her. This is presented as the positive alternative to the woman dominated dystopia.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Adolf in Blunderland: A Political Parody of Lewis Carroll's Famous Story - Dyrenforth, James; Max Kester (Frederick Muller, 1939)
Satire on Nazi Germany.
2nd ed. December 1939. 3rd ed. December 1939. 4th ed. February 1940. 5th ed. rev. March 1940.
Keywords: Male author

"Brave New World" - Lawrence R. Newman (1925-2011) (The Deaf American, 1939)
Satire in which most of the population is deaf and uses signing and the hearing are a disadvantaged minority. One focus is a group of activists among the hearing who want to force the hearing to use signs.
Rpt. in his I Fill This Small Space: The Writings of a Deaf Activist, Ed. David J. Kurs (Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 2009), 224-26.
Keywords: Deaf author; Male author; US author

"City of the Corporate Mind" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Stories, 1939)
Dystopia in a series with 1937 Schachner, "Past, Present and Future" and "City of the Rocket Horde" and 1939 Schachner, "City of the Cosmic Rays". The city in this story in designed like a human body with a brain and subordinate parts functioning under the control of the brain.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"City of the Cosmic Rays" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Science Fiction, 1939)
Dystopia in a series with 1937 Schachner, “Past, Present and Future” and “City of the Rocket Horde” and 1938 Schachner, “City of the Corporate Mind”. In this story, each, entirely different individual lives in a transparent cube.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Death Guard - Philip George Chadwick (1893-1955) (Hutchinson, 1939)
Creation of artificial life leads to a dystopia.
Rpt. London: Roc, 1992.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Fool's Harvest - Erle [Harold] Cox (1873-1950) (The Argus (Melbourne, VIC, Australia), 1939)
Warning against invasion; "Its intention was to awaken the people of Australia to the tragic possibilities of apathy towards adequate defence measures" (Book i). Australia turned into an authoritarian dystopia by the invaders, who are identified as Cambasians. The "Prologue" to the novel, dated July 15, 1975, makes clear that after the loss of five million "white inhabitants" in the fight back, Australia was once again independent.
Rpt. Melbourne, VIC, Australia Robertson & Mullen, 1939 with two chapters added to the book.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

"The Fortress of Utopia" - Jack [John Stewart] Williamson (1908-2006) (Startling Stories (Chicago, IL), 1939)
Anti-utopian story about a failed attempt to create a utopia.
Rpt. with the subtitle an incredible Science Fiction Classic novel. Brooklyn, NY: Gryphon Books, 1998; and in The Crucible of Power: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson Volume Five (Royal Oak, MI: Haffner Press, 2006), 209-328.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Giants of Anarchy" - [Earl Andrew] [Binder] (1904-65); [Otto Oscar] [Binder] (1911-75) (Weird Tales (New York), 1939)
Negative depiction of an anarchist society.
Keywords: Male author; US author

God’s Earth. A Novel - J[oseph] Arthur Horne (b. 1881) (Logan-Price Publishing Co, 1939)
The novel starts in the depths of the Depression and shows its effects on individuals. An instrument that makes viewing the future possible reveals that a religious eutopia will develop. The utopia is based on a policy of Production for All, which is actually a system of centralized planning in which a Board of Control will determine how much of a product is needed and factories will be assigned a quota. Civil service based rather than under political control. The book includes details of a new constitution for the United States, most of which concerns with government structure and the economy. Everyone must work but are free to choose work with wages adjusted to attract workers. The title refers to the fundamental premise that the earth belongs to God, and, as such, cannot be owned by anyone, only used.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“The Hidden Universe” - [Roger Sherman] [Hoar] (1887-1963) (Amazing Stories, 1939)
Authoritarian dystopia presented as a utopia. The story is set during the depression when everyone is desperate for work. Some are sent to a colony in space named “Utopia.” The colonists, who did not know where they were being sent are told that each adult will be able to choose a plot of city or country land, build a house “on easy terms,” the land cannot be taken away, wages cannot be garnished, no taxes, no relief because everyone has a job, free medical care, paid fully during illness or disability, free education to limit of abilities, church in each town. There are twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night; it rains only at night; and there are no seasons. Their contract was for five years, but they learn it is forever.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Holy Terror - H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells (1866-1946) (Michael Joseph, 1939)
The novel presents the dystopia of the contemporary world and the difficult process of creating a eutopia. The eutopia is Wells's world state, which is brought into being through something very like his "open conspiracy" (see 1928 Wells). Here Wells presents an unusual, deeply flawed man leading the human race towards a good life who also develops dictatorial tendencies, has a mental breakdown, and is murdered.
U. S. ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Hopkins Manuscript - R[obert] C[edric] Sherriff (1896-1975) (Gollancz, 1939)
The novel concerns the run up to and results of the moon crashing into the Earth and lodging in the Atlantic Ocean with the focus on the survivors in Britain as described in a manuscript found by explorers from Abyssinia. Most of the manuscript is concerned with the disaster, but it includes the emergence of a system of mostly small towns described positively followed by the emergence of a power-hungry dictator.
Rpt. London/New York: Scribner, 2023. 387 pp. Also entitled The Cataclysm. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city></st1:place>: Pan, 1958.
Keywords: English author; Male author; US author

Impromptu in Moribundia - [Anthony Walter] Patrick Hamilton (1904-62) (Constable and Co, 1939)
Satire on the caste/class system. Moribundia is England. People always behave correctly as defined by their class, and there are physical distinctions among the classes/castes.
Rpt. Nottingham, Eng.: Trent Editions, 1999.
Keywords: English author; Male author

John Innocent at Oxford - [Christopher] Richard [Sandford] Buckle (1916-2001) (Chatto and Windus, 1939)
Adventures in a reformed Oxford (no industry, no suburbs) that has replaced London as the center of English life.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Lord of Tranerica" - Stanton A[rthur] Coblentz (1896-1982) (Dynamic Science Stories (Chicago, IL), 1939)
Satire. Hereditary dictatorship in a supposedly computer-perfect, business-based, and leisure-oriented society set in the 25th century. Robots do all the work, and there are mechanical judges that decide cases and sentences. Tranerica is North and South America combined.
Repub. New York: Avalon, 1966.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Making of a New World - Abinash Chandra [Avināsa-Chandra] Lahiri (Pub. by the Author, 1939)
Essay. Detailed eutopia which stresses education and an economic system in which all are employed six hours a day producing for the good of society, goods are supplied free, and money, banks, interest, and rent have been abolished. Men and women are equal. Marriage is not permitted before 19 and must be based on consent. Divorce is possible.
Keywords: Indian author; Male author

Man Finds the Way - Philip A[loysius] Sullivan (b. 1882) (Margent Press, 1939)
Eutopia set in 2000 that shows the development of the better world. Religion. United States of the World. National Peace Institute which educates for peace. A law establishing a United States Peace Institute was passed in 1984 and the Institute was established in 1986.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Over the Mountain - Ruthven [Campbell] Todd (1914-78) (George G. Harrap & Co, 1939)
Authoritarian dystopia with some satire. The country described has spies throughout the population and concentration camps. It tortures its political prisoners, and all the secret police are recruited from among the mentally retarded.
Rpt. London: The Falcon Press, 1946. US ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

"The Priestess Who Rebelled" - Nelson S[lade] Bond (1908-2006) (Amazing Stories (Chicago, IL), 1939)
Blatantly sexist separation of the sexes. First story in a series set in a future after the collapse of civilization. “The Judging of the Priestess.” Fantastic Adventures (Chicago, IL) 2.4 (April 1940): 42-59 is racist, particularly anti-Japanese, as well as sexist. “Magic City.” Illus. M[anuel Rey] Isip (1904-87). Astounding Science Fiction 26.6 (February 1941): 9-36. Rpt. in A Treasury of Great Science Fiction. 2 vols. Ed. Anthony Boucher (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1959), 293-321 is set in the same future but significantly later in time when men and women are equals but there remain enclaves of the old way.
Rpt. in When Women Rule. Ed. Sam Moskowitz (Walker & Co., 1972), 198-221. Rev. as “Pilgrimage.” In his The Thirty-First of February (Gnome Press, 1949), 246-72. Rpt. (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970), 246-72.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Rainbow in the Valley - James Creed Meredith (1875-1942) (Browne and Nolan The Richview Press, 1939)
The novel is mostly a discussion of the current situation on Earth and consideration of various philosophers, which he says was the main purpose of writing the book, but it also presents Mars as a eutopia organized from the top down that was brought about by a dictator, and the discussion presents contemporary European dictators positively.
Keywords: Irish author; Male author

"Sculptures of Life" - Wallace [George] West (1900-80) (Astounding Science-Fiction (New York), 1939)
The background to the story is a flawed utopia. In the future a technique for transferring the personality of a person into a newly created body allows some extremely rich people to live forever. While accumulating power and wealth for themselves, they build a high tech future that appears to be better but is entirely dependent on the whims of these few people.
Rpt. in Science-Fiction Thinking Machines: Robots, Androids, Computers. Ed. Groff Conklin (New York: The Vanguard Press, 1954), 222-41.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“Telepathy Is News!” - Henry Kuttner (1914-58) (Science Fiction, 1939)
The story is set in an authoritarian dystopia when telepathy becomes possible.
Rpt. without the illus. in The Watcher at the Door: The Early Kuttner Volume Two. Ed. Stephen Haffner (Royal Oaks, MI: Haffner Press, 2016), 83-105.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Three Men Make a World - [Howell] [Davies] (1896-1985) (Victor Gollancz, 1939)
Includes a very English village eutopia at the end.
Keywords: Male author; Welsh author

"The Ultimate Catalyst" - Eric Temple Bell (1883-1960) (Thrilling Wonder Stories (New York), 1939)
The background to the story is a future world that has exiled the last dictator and all his followers to Amazonia, thus creating a dystopia, where a scientist develops an elaborate technique for killing him.
Rpt. in Startling Stories 20.2 (November 1949): 84-97; and in Great Science Fiction By Scientists. Ed. Groff Conklin (New York: Collier Books, 1962), 35-59 with an editor's note on 34.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author; US author

Union Now: A Proposal for a Federal Union of the Democracies of the North Atlantic - Clarence K[irshman] Streit (1896-1986) (Harper, 1939)
Non-fiction but it includes an "Illustrative Constitution" (325-35) for the proposed union, which is seen as a first step to world government. A revised version is Union Now With Britain New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941. U.K. ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1941. This includes an "Illustrative Declaration of Inter-Dependence and Union (207-11) as well as the constitution, slightly revised (215-23). A defense of world federalism, designed as similar to the U.S. Federalist Papers, is The New Federalist. By Publius Justice, Owen J. Roberts, John F. Schmidt, and [mostly] Clarence K[irshman] Streit. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950.
U.K. ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1939.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Unknown Citizen" - W[ystan] H[ugh] Auden (1907-73) (The Listener (London), 1939)
Poem describing a bureaucratic dystopia that honors a man who is "normal in every way."
Rpt. in The Collected Poetry of W.H. Auden (New York: Random House, 1945), 142-143; in Collected Shorter Poems, 1927-1957 (New York: Random House, 1967), 146-147; in Selected Poems. Ed. Edward Mendelson (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 85-86; in The Hedgehog Review (Charlottesville, VA) 10.3 (Fall 2008): 38-39; and in The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Poems. Volume I 1927-1939. Ed. Edward Mendelson (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022), 368-369, with a Textual Note on 767-768.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Visit to Utopia - J[ohn] Howard Whitehouse (1873-1955) (Oxford University Press, 1939)
Eutopia. One emphasis is on the beauty of the place. Another is on technology; for example, mining has been so improved that work underground is no longer needed. No unemployment. No war; hence no need for arms. Equal opportunity for higher education.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Way Out: An Essay on the Means of Averting the Recurring Disaster - [John] [Bostock] (b. 1892); [Leslie John Jarvis] [Nye] (1891-1976) (Halstead Press, 1939)
Essay describing the book as an answer to the problem they posed in their Whither Away? A Study of Race Psychology and the Factors Leading to Australia's National Decline (1934), which focused on the falling birth rate. Their solution, a Federal Union of countries, is based on Clarence K[irshman] Streit (See 1939 Streit). In addition, they argue that people must be educated for democracy (both in improved teaching of citizenship in democracies and in the elements of democracy in non-democratic countries), the political system must be reformed so as to attract the best people, and there must be much more community involvement. See also 1972 Nye.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

We Band of Brothers - [George Cecil] [Foster] (1893-1975) (Herbert Jenkins, 1939)
The dystopia created by Germany winning World War 2.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"When Time Stood Still" - Edwin K. Sloat (Amazing Stories (Chicago, IL), 1939)
Eutopia. A community called Futura is established in the Southwest U.S. desert where youth is prolonged and everyone lives peacefully.
Keywords: Male author

Why Not Now? A British Islander's Dream - Arthur St. John (1862-1938) (C.W. Daniel, 1939)
Eutopia. London is transformed, and the Thames is clean and a center of activity. More simple life stressing families and neighborhoods then districts or towns, countries, continents, and the world.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Women's World" - David C[oxe] Cooke (Science Fiction (Holyoke, MA), 1939)
Gender-role reversal.
Keywords: Male author

The Adventures of Wyndham Smith - S[ydney] Fowler Wright (1874-1965) (Herbert Jenkins, 1938)
Machine dystopia with a few rebels. “Original Sin” is set in a future eutopia where disease has been eliminated and all children are healthy. A decision is made that all children will be born within a five-year period every twenty-five years, which works very well. But a Doctrine of Futility spreads, and it is decided to eliminate the entire human race.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Dream Places" - Pat[rick Anthony] Lawlor (The New Zealand Railways Magazine, 1938)
Two brief eutopian visions. The first is a South Seas Island paradise, which is rejected as unrealistic in that there will be mosquitoes and sharks. The second is heaven after death.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

The Efforts of Chance - M[ontefiore] Follick (1887-1958) (Serjeant's Press, 1938)
Mostly adventure but describes a model town.
Keywords: English author; Male author; Welsh author

"Flight of the Dawn Stars" - Robert Moore Williams (1907-77) (Astounding Science-Fiction (New York), 1938)
Earth as a future Eden after the need for urban life is gone.
Rpt. in A Treasury of Science Fiction. Ed. Groff Conklin (New York: Crown, 1948), 358-69.
Keywords: Male author; US author

General Manpower - John S. Martin (Simon and Schuster, 1938)
Dystopia. A man creates a company to provide a labor force for any company in the world and troops for any military need. The company includes a breeding program for future workers. Lower level leaders in the company try to use the military for world power and are defeated.
Keywords: Male author

Glorious Morning; A Play in Three Acts - Norman MacOwan (1877-1961) (Victor Gollancz, 1938)
Standard authoritarian dystopia in a fictional Eastern European country. Unsuccessful rebellion.
Rpt. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939 with photographs from the play. The novel is based on a play with the same title first produced at the Duchess Theatre, London, May 26, 1938. The play was published as "Glorious Morning: A Play in Three Acts." In Famous Plays 1938-1939 (London: Victor Gollancz, 1939), 337-453; and as the Acting ed. London: Samuel French Ltd., 1939.
Keywords: English author; Male author; Scottish author

The Hidden Tribe - S[ydney] Fowler Wright (1874-1965) (Robert Hale, 1938)
Lost race authoritarian dystopia in the Sahara following the practice of Egyptian pharaohs of marrying their sisters. The community has successfully practiced a eugenic program to enhance both physique and intelligence.
Rpt. with the subtitle A Lost Race Fantasy. [Holicong, PA]: Borgo Press, 2009.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Impregnable Women - Eric [Robert Russell] Linklater (b. 1899) (Jonathan Cape, 1938)
A modern version of Aristophanes's Lysistrata (411 BCE)  in which women take possession of Edinburgh Castle.
Rpt. in The Orkney Ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1952; and Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1959.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

"Island of the Individualists" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Science Fiction (New York), 1938)
Dystopia in a series with 1937 Schachner, “Past, Present and Future” and “City of the Rocket Horde” and 1939 Schachner, “City of the Corporate Mind” and “City of the Cosmic Rays”. In this story, the protagonists land on an island of isolated individuals who spend their entire lives in contemplation.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Isle of Nowhere - Burns Llewellyn Williams (Arthur H. Stockwell, 1938)
Satire and allegory with a number of themes. Problems can be corrected through the light of General Intelligence.
Keywords: Male author

The Man Who Could Not Sin - Newman Watts (b. 1895) (Fleming H. Revell, 1938)
Eutopia with Christ on the throne in Jerusalem as the world ruler. The novel is a "sleeper awakes" story in which a militant atheist of the mid-twentieth century revives after 225 years asleep.
UK ed. as The Man Who Did Not Sin. London: Henry E. Walter, 1939.
Keywords: Male author; UK author

Minimum Man or Time To Be Gone - [Howell] [Davies] (1896-1985) (Victor Gollancz, 1938)
Fascist dystopia. Armed police, leadership cult, fascist curriculum in schools, anti-Semitic, unions dissolved, and concentration camps ("Everyone knew of them"). Story of a small, advanced, mutant people who successfully revolt against the fascist state.
Rpt. in Famous Fantastic Mysteries 8.6 (August 1947): 6-112; and without the subtitle. London: Science Fiction Book Club, 1953.
Keywords: Male author; Welsh author

“Nightmare for Future Reference” - Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) (The New Yorker, 1938)
Dystopian poem about the next world war and its effects.
Rpt. in Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction. Ed. Leigh Ronald Grossman (Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2011), 250.
Keywords: Male author; US author

No Sting, No Honey - David [E.] Hussey (Arthur Barker, 1938)
Humor and satire including a matriarchal society organized like a bee-hive and a feminist eutopia.
Keywords: Male author

Out of the Silent Planet - C[live] S[taples] Lewis (1898-1963) (John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1938)
First volume of a trilogy on the struggle between good and evil. Presents a eutopia as a sub-theme in which the eutopia is given by God. The other volumes of the trilogy are 1943 and 1945 Lewis. In addition, one of the major characters of the trilogy appears in 1977 Lewis. The name of the indigenous inhabitants, the Hrossa, is also used by Judith Moffett in Pennterra (1987).
Rpt. with an “Introduction” (viii-xxvi) and “Notes” (175-94) by David Elloway. London: Longmans, 1966; and New York: Scribner Classics, 1996. Chapter 16 is rpt. in The Book of Mars: An Anthology of Fact and Fiction. Ed. Stuart Clark (London: London: Head of Zeus/Apollo/Bloomsbury, 2022), 90-94.
Keywords: English author; Male author; Northern Ireland author

The Pagan City - W[illiam] N[oel] Chaplin (1892-1981) (John Long, 1938)
Ancient Rome as a dystopia that continues to exist inside the earth. In an Epilogue the author says that he was trying to demonstrate what a benefit the introduction of Christianity had been.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Professor. A Novel - Rex [Reginald Ernest] Warner (1905-86) (Boriswood, 1938)
Authoritarian dystopia derived from National Socialist Germany and Fascist Italy.
Rpt. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1944; and Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, [1944]. U.S. ed. as The Professor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"The Revolution of 1950" - Stanley G[rauman] Weinbaum (1902-35); [Roger Sherman] [Hoar] (1887-1963) (Amazing Stories (Chicago, IL), 1938)
Mostly an adventure story set in a dictatorship in the US.
Rpt. as "The Revolution of 1960." In Weinbaum, The Red Peri (Reading, PA: Fantasy Press, 1952), 218-70; and under the latter title and with Farley [pseud.] as co-author in A Martian Odyssey and Other Science Fiction Stories. The Collected Short Stories of Stanley G. Weinbaum (Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1974), 500-52.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Secret Land - Hawker, Caleb (Blackie & Son, 1938)
Primarily a boy's adventure novel, but includes a religious eutopia in a hidden valley.
Keywords: Male author

The Sign of the Burning Hart - David H[enry] Keller M.D. (1880-1966) (Imprimerie de la Manche, 1938)
Set in a village called Arcadia in which people appear to lead contented lives.
Rpt. [Boston, MA]: National Fantasy Fan Federation, 1948.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Socialist Melbourne - Ralph Gibson (Communist Party (Victorian State Committee), 1938)
Socialist eutopia describing state owned factories, transport, and banks. Large stores have been nationalized and some smaller stores became cooperatives but many small, private stores continue. Freedom of religion, although churches cannot own property and there is considerable anti-religious propaganda. Democracy with immediate recall possible. Free education through university with access to university based solely on ability. Children's rights. Free medical care. There are both large state-owned and small privately-owned farms with extensive irrigation.
[2nd ed.] Melbourne, VIC, Australia: International Bookshop Pty, 1951. 43 pp.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

"Utopia" - A[rthur] R[ex] D[ugard] Fairburn (1904-1957) (Dominion, 1938)
Political poem depicting the current situation in dystopian terms.
Rpt. in his Collected Poems (Christchurch, New Zealand: Pegasus Press, 1966), 15-20.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

When Woman Reigns - [Reginald William Malyon] [Gibbs] (1878-1942) (Pen-in-Hand Pub. Co, 1938)
Flawed utopia based on the rule of women set in the future in the Himalayas. All ferocious animals and vermin eliminated after a detailed classification and research program, called the War of Human Supremacy. No disease. Sexual men do not work but are adopted by women as consorts. Children vote. Votes for dogs being considered. Thorough censorship. Civil Service based on detailed examinations after twenty years of study.
Keywords: English author; Male author

World-Birth - Shaw Desmond (1877-1960) (Methuen, 1938)
Eutopia. Education. Cooperative system with production for use not profit.
Keywords: English author; Irish author; Male author

"Year Nine" - Cyril [Vernon] Connolly (1903-74) (The New Statesman and Nation (London), 1938)
Short authoritarian dystopia particularly concerned with censorship. Humor.
Rpt. in his The Condemned Playground. Essays: 1927-1944 (London: Routledge, 1945), 154-59. Rpt. (New York: Macmillan, 1946), 154-159; (London: Hogarth Press, 1985), 154-59; and in The Selected Works of Cyril Connolly. Volume Two: The Two Natures. Ed. Matthew Connolly (London: Picador, 2002), 322-27.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Armada of the Air - Norman S. Bentley (b. 1867) (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1937)
Dystopia of the dictatorship produced as a result of disarmament.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Be Thou Prepared, For Jesus is Coming - Forrest Loman Oilar (b. 1880) (Meador Publishing Co, 1937)
Fictional representation of the dystopian events leading to the Second Coming and the eutopia to follow.
Keywords: Male author

"The Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great Civilization in Modern Africa” - [George Samuel] [Schuyler] (1895-1977) (The Pittsburgh Courier, 1937)
Civilization in Modern Africa. Ed. Robert A. Hill and R. Kent Rasmussen (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1991), 143-258 with a “Foreword” to the volume by John A[lfred] Williams (1925-2015) (xvii-xx), an “Afterword” by the editors (259-323), “Schuyler’s story notes (ca. 1936-1937)” (325-27), and George S. Schuyler’s Pittsburgh Courier fiction, 1933-1939)” (337-44). Originally published in the Pittsburgh Courier (October 2, 1937 - April 16, 1938). No good file of the Pittsburgh Courier appears to exist, and the editors of the book publication compared the damaged, incomplete, microfilm with Schuyler’s clippings of the stories held by Syracuse University Library. Rev. ed. in George S[amuel] Schuyler, Black Empire. Ed Brooks E. Hefner (New York: Penguin Books/Penguin Random House, 2023), 169-305, with an Introduction by the editor (vii-xxii), Suggestions for Further Reading (xiii-xxv), A Note on the Text (xxvii-xxx), and Appendices including Appendix A “Original Headline Titles and Publication Dates” (310-312), Appendix C “Notes for Speculative Fiction Serials Never Executed by Schuyler” (317-323), and Appendix D “Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction” (325-329), and Notes Black Empire (336-338) and Notes Appendix D Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction (359). PSt Sequel to 1936-7 Schuyler in which the Black Internationale is established in Liberia to carry out its mission of liberating Africa. After Liberia is attacked by European forces, much of the novel is on the war. Everyone is required to have a thorough physical exam, and if they are found to have an incurable disease, they are euthanized. On the other hand, they have developed permanent cures for many diseases. Model kitchens that will be established throughout Africa both prepare food for the district and are used to teach people the relationship between a good diet and health. Schuyler describes the development of the movement in “The Rise of the Black Internationale.” The Crisis 25.8 (August 1938): 255-57, 274-75, 277. Rpt. in his Black Empire Comprising The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World and Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great Civilization in Modern Africa. Ed. Robert A. Hill and R. Kent Rasmussen (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1991), 328-336; and in Rac[e]ing to the Right: Selected Essays of George S. Schuyler. Ed. Jeffrey B. Leak (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2001), 29-36. See also 1931 Schuyler.
Originally published in the Pittsburgh Courier (October 2, 1937 - April 16, 1938). No good file of the Pittsburgh Courier appears to exist, and the editors of the book publication compared the damaged, incomplete, microfilm with Schuyler’s clippings of the stories held by Syracuse University Library. Rev. ed. in George S[amuel] Schuyler, Black Empire. Ed Brooks E. Hefner (New York: Penguin Books/Penguin Random House, 2023), 169-305, with an Introduction by the editor (vii-xxii), Suggestions for Further Reading (xiii-xxv), A Note on the Text (xxvii-xxx), and Appendices including Appendix A “Original Headline Titles and Publication Dates” (310-312), Appendix C “Notes for Speculative Fiction Serials Never Executed by Schuyler” (317-323), and Appendix D “Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction” (325-329), and Notes Black Empire (336-338) and Notes Appendix D Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction (359).
Keywords: African American author; Male author

Carson of Venus - Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Publishers, 1939, 1937)
Mostly a war story, but it includes a satire of Hitler and National Socialism.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"City of the Rocket Horde" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Stories, 1937)
Dystopia in sequel to 1937 Schachner, "Past, Present and Future" in which characters from the previous story visit another dystopian city on the same planet. This city, although highly advanced technically, is more a simple authoritarian system but with a hierarchical system similar to that in the previous story. See also 1938 and 1939 Schachner, "City of the Corporate Mind" and "City of the Cosmic Rays.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Every Man a Millionaire: A Baloon Trip in the Mathematical Stratosphere of Social Relations - [David Eugene] [Smith] (Scripta Mathematica, 1937)
A mathematician brings about a rational, technological eutopia.
Keywords: Male author

"Festivity in the New Age" - Michael Goulding (Blackshirt: The Patriotic Worker's Paper (London), 1937)
Brief National Socialist eutopia. No cut price stores. “Now the Distributive Corporation decide the prices of goods, and no one is allowed to sell under the agreed price.” No foreign goods. No long hours with stores staying open but shop assistants working in shifts. Miners’ hours reduced, pay increased. No imported coal. New housing for workers.
Keywords: Male author

“Forgetfulness” - [John Wood] [Campbell] [Jr.] (1910-71) (Astounding Stories, 1937)
An extremely high-tech people chose to reject the technology and the violence that accompanied it and create a pastoral eutopia. Most of the story focuses on the people from another planet who plan to eliminate the eutopia to get access to the technology.
Rpt. in Adventures in Time and Space: An Anthology of Modern Science-Fiction Stories. Ed. Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas (New York: Random House, 1946), 20-45, which was rpt. as Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space. Ed. Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas (New York: Modern Library, 1957), 20-45; and in A New Dawn: The Complete Don A. Stuart Stories. Ed. James A. Mann (Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 2003), 209-32.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Hobbit or There and Back Again - J[ohn] R[onald] R[eul] Tolkien (1897-1973) (George Allen & Unwin, 1937)
Classic children's fantasy novel. Hobbiton-across-the-Water is an arcadia.
2nd. ed. 1951; 3rd ed. 1966; 4th ed. 1978; [50th] anniversary ed. London: Unwin Hyman, 1987 with a “Foreword” by Christopher Tolkien (i-xvi); 75th Anniversary Edition. London: Harper Collins, 2011, with a “Preface” that is excerpts from the 50th ed. “Foreword” (v-xiv). For further information see The Annotated Hobbit. Rev. and exp. ed. annotated by Douglas A. Anderson. Illus. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin Co., 2002. It includes “The Quest of Erebor” [“Gandalf’s explanation of how arranged Bilbo’s adventure”] (367-77); “On Runes” (368-69); and a bibliography that includes, among other things, an extensive list of editions of The Hobbit.
Keywords: English author; Male author

“Last Act (A.D. 1995)” - F[rank] L[aurence] Lucas (1894-1967) (The Woman Clothed With the Sun and Other Stories, 1937)
Dystopia in which the world is divided between those nations subservient to Japan (Asia to the Urals and Australasia) and Germany (Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa), with the Pan-American Union between them. The story details the dystopia as it exists in the areas controlled by Germany and ends with the human race destroyed.
Keywords: English author; Male author

A Love Starved World - Jacob Leon Pritcher (The Yale Pub. Co, 1937)
Eutopia with emphases on good medical care, a healthy sex life, and eugenics.
Keywords: Male author

Morwyn or the Vengeance of God - John Cowper Powys (1872-1963) (Cassell, 1937)
Hell as dystopia.
Keywords: English author; Male author; US author; Welsh author

Old Goat: A fantasia on a theme of Blackmail and Sudden Death - [Theodore] Edwin Greenwood (1895-1939) (William Heinemann, 1937)
A novel that includes a description of a proto-fascist authoritarian intentional community and the plan for a future authoritarian order. Considerable humor.
U.S. ed. as Under the Fig Leaf. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1937.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Past, Present and Future" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Stories, 1937)
A dystopia on a post catastrophe Earth of a hierarchical city with people living on levels appropriate to their status. First in a series of dystopias in which people from various past times experience various other dystopias. Sequels are 1937 Schachner, "City of the Rocket Horde," and 1938 and 1939 Schachner, "City of the Corporate Mind" and "City of the Cosmic Rays".
Keywords: Male author; US author

“The Place of the Gods” - Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) (Saturday Evening Post, 1937)
After an unexplained catastrophe called the Great Burning, a religious society has developed with strict taboos on travel to certain areas thought of as the place of the gods. Since metal is scarce and has been scavenged from most areas where travel is permitted, one man goes into the forbidden areas and discovers the ruins of the previous civilization.
Rpt. without the illus. as “By the Waters of Babylon.” In his Thirteen O’Clock: Stories of Several Worlds (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, [1937]), 3-20; in The Pocket Book of Science Fiction. Ed. Donald A. Wollheim (New York: Pocket Books, 1943), 1-16; in The Post Reader of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964), 103-17; in Fantasy Voyages: Great Science Fiction from The Saturday Evening Post. Ed. Vincent Miranda (Indianapolis, IN: Curtis, 1979), 103-17 with an editor’s note on 104; and in Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction. Ed. Leigh Ronald Grossman (Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2011), 247-49 with an editor’s note on 247.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Problem Island - Francis Clement Kelley (1870-1948) (St. Anthony Guild Press, 1937)
A group of children are placed on an isolated island in an experiment to see if they will invent religion. Although there are problems, they create an egalitarian, democratic eutopia, and they invent religion. At the end they become Christians.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Rhubarb Tree - Kenneth [Cyril Bruce] Allott (1912-73); Stephen Tait (The Cresset Press, 1937)
Satire in which one focus is a fascist dystopia.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Star Begotten: A Biological Fantasia - H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells (1866-1946) (London Mercury, 1937)
The novel focuses on the belief that cosmic rays are causing positive mutations in humans and producing more rational people who will, over time, bring about a better world. Chapter 9 includes some eutopian material including better education, world peace and world citizenship with complete freedom of movement, abundance, the world turned into a garden, and individuality. Chapter 9 is 169-85 (C&W); 186-202 (Viking); 124-33 (WUP); London Mercury 36.212 (June 1937): 166-72.
Repub. London: Chatto & Windus. U.S. ed. New York: Viking, 1937. Both U.K. and U.S. eds. published in June. Rpt. ed. John Huntington. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Star-Maker - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) (Methuen, 1937)
One of Stapledon's visions of the far, far future where the human race has been replaced by more advanced species.
Rpt. in his To the End of Time: The Best of Olaf Stapledon. Ed. Basil Davenport (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1953), 221-412; rpt. (Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 221-412; as The Star Maker. New York: Berkley Medallion, 1961; in Last and First Men & Star Maker: Two Science-Fiction Novels (New York: Dover, 1968), 247-438; Bath, Eng.: Lythway Press, 1974; and ed. Patrick McCarthy. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004 with a “Foreword” by Freeman Dyson (xi-xv) and an “Introduction” by the editor (xix-xxxiii). Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 22-28. An earlier version was discovered and published as Nebula Maker. Hayes, Middlesex, Eng.: Bran's Head Books, 1976. Rpt. in Nebula Maker & Four Encounters with illustrations by Jim Starlin (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1983), 1-124 with an "Introduction" by Arthur C. Clarke (vii-x).
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Sterile Planet" - Nat[haniel] Schachner (1895-1955) (Astounding Stories, 1937)
The sterile planet is Earth in 4260 because humans had ignored the prophecies of the early twentieth century and had “denuded the forests, plowed up the soil, meddled recklessly with the delicate balance of nature” (52). The story is primarily concerned with a battle between the so-called civilized and those who had been left behind when the last places with water had been captured and enclosed and a conflict between the authoritarian leader of the “civilized” and a scientist with a plan to restore Earth.
Rpt. in Nature’s Warning: Classic Stories of Eco-Science Fiction. Ed. Mike Ashley (London: British Library, 2021), 113-143.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Stop! . . . Distracted People! Two Mirrors of the Future. Romantic Double Utopia - Ludovicus Textoris Serly (Bookcraft [Stamped above publisher’s name: Pub. by L.T. Serly], 1937)
Small town and rural eutopia after disastrous earthquakes.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Sugar in the Air: A Romance - E[rnest] C[harles] Large (1902-76) (Jonathan Cape, 1937)
Satire on capitalism and big business. See his Asleep in the Afternoon. London: Jonathan Cape, 1938. Rpt. London: Hyphen Press, 2008, which is a novel about the writing of Sugar in the Air.
Rpt. London: Hyphen Press, 2008.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Time is Now Ripe: Revolution Without Tears - Montague [MacGregor] Grover (1870-1943) (Robertson & Mullens, 1937)
Communist revolution and eutopia.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

To-morrow's Art and Recreation - A[rthur] Romney Green (d. 1945) (Vanguard Press, 1937)
Eutopia presented in an address delivered to the Economic Reform Club in September 1937. Return to handicrafts. Minimum wage.
Keywords: Male author

The Unholy City - Charles G[randison] Finney (1905-84) (The Vanguard Press, 1937)
Satire on the US seen as a fantastic imaginary country.
U.K. ed. London: Panther, 1965.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Utopia and/or Bust" - Paul McCrea (Nation's Business (Washington, DC), 1937)
Satire. Business collapses when everyone is given gold, and no one will work.
Keywords: Male author

The Wild Goose Chase - Rex [Reginald Ernest] Warner (1905-86) (Boriswood, 1937)
Three brothers separately set out on a search for the wild goose and find a town that is a dystopia with the people slaves and an extraordinarily corrupt and decadent government. The youngest of the brothers leads a successful revolution. Much on revolutionary strategy and tactics.
Rpt. in the Uniform Edition. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1944, 442 pp. and London: Merlin Press, 1990, with an “Introduction by Andrew Cramp (vii-xvii). xvii + 442 pp. U.S. ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938. 454 pp.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Young Men Are Coming! - M[atthew] P[hipps] Shiel (1865-1947) (Vanguard Press, 1937)
Includes a fascist attempt to take over Britain.
U.S. ed. New York: Vanguard Press, 1937. 375 pp.
Keywords: Creole author; English author; Male author; Montserrat British West Indies author

After Us or The World as it might be - J[ohn] P[ercy] Lockhart-Mummery (1875-1957) (Stanley Paul, 1936)
A rational anti-socialist eutopia written as a projection for AD 2536. Advanced technology. Eugenics. Genetically engineered food. Reason.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Amaranthers - Jack B[utler] Yeats (1871-1957) (William Heinemann, 1936)
An odd work about Ireland. It can be read as a eutopia with problems or as a fantasy and certainly has elements of each. As a eutopia, the stress is on the friendliness of the small town and the way the people support each other. There is also, at the beginning, a brief dystopian interlude.
Keywords: Irish author; Male author

At the Dawn of the Millennium; A Scientific and Philosophical Treatise for the Advancement of Knowledge and the Promotion of World Peace - Nicholas Nicolaides (City Printing Co, 1936)
A eutopia set in the future that has a universal language and covers the entire world. Rural. Detached houses. Technologically advanced.
Keywords: Male author

"Australano" - [Nelson] [Tremaine] (1907-71) (Astounding Stories, 1936)
Dystopia. Future devastated by war rebuilds into two countries, one in North America and one in Australia. The former is a dictatorship; the latter is a benevolent monarchy.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Bensalem and New Jerusalem - [Philip Francis] [Samuels] (Samuels-Bacon Pub. Co, 1936)
Continuation of 1627 Bacon, New Atlantis. Conservative. Christian. Political representation by trade or profession.
Keywords: Male author

The Birds - Frank Baker (Peter Davies, 1936)
The bulk of the book is a dystopia of an attack by “birds” that destroys contemporary civilization. The explanation of the nature of the birds in Part III, Section VII suggests that they are reflections of human failings. After being forced to flee the cities, a simple agricultural society with eutopian aspects is established and briefly described in the concluding section.
Keywords: Male author

"The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World” - [George Samuel] [Schuyler] (1895-1977) (The Pittsburgh Courier, 1936)
A novella in which an African American brings together African American professionals, the Black Internationale, to liberate Africa from white colonial oppression using whatever means is available, including a level of violence comparable to that of the colonists. Schuyler stresses the exceptional quality of the people involved and makes clear that not all blacks as intelligent. 1937-8 Schuyler is a sequel. Schuyler describes the development of the movement in “The Rise of the Black Internationale.” The Crisis 25.8 (August 1938): 255-57, 274-75, 277. Rpt. in his Black Empire Comprising The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World and Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great Civilization in Modern Africa. Ed. Robert A. Hill and R. Kent Rasmussen (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1991), 328-336; and in Rac[e]ing to the Right: Selected Essays of George S. Schuyler. Ed. Jeffrey B. Leak (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2001), 29-36. See also 1931 Schuyler.
Originally published in the Pittsburgh Courier (November 21, 1936 - July 3, 1937). No good file of the Pittsburgh Courier appears to exist, and the editors of the book publication compared the damaged, incomplete, microfilm with Schuyler’s clippings of the stories held by Syracuse University Library. Rev. ed. in George S[amuel] Schuyler, Black Empire. Ed Brooks E. Hefner (New York: Penguin Books/Penguin Random House, 2023), 1-168, with an Introduction by the editor (vii-xxii), Suggestions for Further Reading (xiii-xxv), A Note on the Text (xxvii-xxx), and Appendices including Appendix A “Original Headline Titles and Publication Dates” (307-310), Appendix B “Notes for ‘The Black Internationale’” (313-316), Appendix C “Notes for Speculative Fiction Serials Never Executed by Schuyler” (317-323), and Appendix D “Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction” (325-329), and Notes The Black Internationale (331-336) and Notes Appendix D Bibliography of Schuyler’s Genre Fiction (359).
Keywords: African American author; Male author

Blackshirt the Adventurer - [Graham Montague] [Jeffries] (1900-82) (Hutchinson, 1936)
Authoritarian dystopia. Cave world (World of the Secret People) inhabited by criminals, and the criminals are slaves of the overlords.
Rpt. London: Hutchinson, 1945.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Chosen Race - Edgar Albion Lyons (The Cavalier Pub. Co, 1936)
Machine dystopia set in 2000 A.D. The dystopia was brought about by the inexorable process of automation that gradually threw everyone out of work. The few employed drove the unemployed out of cities and built huge walls around them. At the end the machines stop, but a small eutopia survives that had been established by a single wealthy man who made himself king, selected those who could settle, and, while providing a much better life for the people, also imposed strict rules.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Collective Insecurity - Kenneth Macassey (Longmans, Green & Co, 1936)
Dystopian satire of a future German empire.
Keywords: Male author

Co-op. A Novel of Living: Together - Upton [Beall] Sinclair (1878-1968) (The Author, 1936)
Eutopia based on a cooperative system and consensus.
UK ed. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1936
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Emotion Solution" - Arthur K. Barnes (1909-69) (Wonder Stories (Springfield, MA), 1936)
Dystopia that eliminates emotion.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“The God and the Man: A Saga of the Uphrigees” - Isaacson, Charles D. (The Californian (Pomona, CA), 1936)
Satire about the god Zoohm, who creates a eutopia where every person knows how they are to live and do so contentedly without thought. But Zhoom gets bored and asks a brother god for a troublesome human to shake things up. Initially the outsider has no impact, but then Zhoom grants the people the ability to think and act for themselves, and the human manages to start a revolution. Zhoom enjoys the result until the human tries to replace Zhoom, who kills him but quickly regrets his act and destroys Uphrigee.
Keywords: Male author

Greener Pastures; A Fable of Past, Present and Future - Howard Wolf (The Caxton Printers, 1936)
Satire. God has illusions of grandeur and thinks He is Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945. President 1933-45).
Keywords: Male author

The Hesperides: A Looking-Glass Fugue - John [Leslie] Palmer (1885-1944) (Martin Secker & Warburg, 1936)
Dystopia. Art and imagination discouraged. No emotions. Eating and sleeping completely private and are considered impolite.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Home Life in A.D. 2000" - E[dmund] S[idney] P[ollock] Haynes (1877-1949) (Life, Law & Letters, 1936)
Satire on overzealous law making.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Janice in Tomorrow-Land - [Rufus] Emory Holloway (1885-1977) (American Book Co, 1936)
Young adult high tech eutopia as seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Lost Civilization: A Story of Adventure in Central Australia - Val[entine Voltaire] Heslop (1894-1936) (St. George Pub. Coy, 1936)
Lost race utopia in the center of Australia. A scientifically advanced society with similarities to both ancient Egypt and the Mayans. Vegetarian. Peaceful. Use Telepathy. There is an authoritarian monarch and vestal virgins, who cannot marry. All work for the good of the community and all needs are provided. Men marry whom they choose; women not consulted. Believe in a Supreme Being. Equality except for a few nobles. Standard evil High Priest, prohibited love, adventure, some escape.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

The Machine Stops - [Victor] [Bayley] (1880-1972) (Robert Hale, 1936)
Disaster dystopia in which all metal disintegrates.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Man Who Could Still Laugh (A Story of the Future) - [Charles Houghton] [Oldfield] (1889-1961) (Bantam Books/Todd Publishing Co., 1936)
Satire on totalitarianism that sees laughter as the best defense.
Originally published in Prague newspaper (not found) and then Candide.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Martians Investigate This Crazy World! - Fred L. Dietz (Fred L. Dietz, 1936)
Primarily a criticism of contemporary society, but it also presents a cooperative system that the society will adopt in the near future.
Keywords: Male author

The Master Plan: Government Without Taxation - Herman Van Polen (Christopher Pub. Co, 1936)
One corporation takes over the assets of the United States and brings eutopia with much on the problems involved.
Keywords: Male author

"My Utopia: Address to the Cosmopolitan Club of the London School of Economics and Political Science (23rd October 1934)" - William H[enry] Beveridge, [Baron Beveridge] (1879-1963) (Planning under Socialism and Other Addresses, 1936)
A world eutopia is presented based on variety. A specific eutopia located in Scotland (now known as Econ) is based on an economic system that is fundamentally capitalist but that ensures the maintenance of all basic physical and psychological needs by providing publicly for everything related to education broadly defined plus housing, transport, and the maintenance of the countryside (134-26, 138). Stress on variety (137-38) with an educational system designed to reflect the variety of human needs and interests (138-40). Both individual and collective family systems exist in Econ. The world eutopia is based on the introduction of birth control and the resultant fall in population (133). London is thus depicted as emptier and greener. Immigration anywhere in the world is open to all, but national differences remain (134, 136).
Keywords: English author; Male author