Utopian communism and political thought in early modern England /

Kenyon's curious study encompasses far more than the title suggests; it is a series of essays that deals with analytical methods for evaluating early political texts, linguistic concepts, property theory, teleology, millenarianism, morality, ethics, and the human condition. There are numerous bright and revealing passages illuminating the intentions of Sir Thomas More and Garrard Winstanley. The study is best approached by scholars and students through its index inasmuch as no single thread of thought holds the work of the two authors together. Two splendid essays offer some comparisons and contrasts of their views but there is no synthesis that directs the reader to a necessary bond between the two who wrote more than a century apart from each other. Though the studies of Timothy Kenyon (Liverpool University) are certainly rewarding, the reader should be prepared for disjointed presentation of ideas, some of which have little to do with Kenyon's foregoing sections or with his conclusions. Excellent notes; no bibliography; useful index. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -G. M. Straka, University of Delaware