
Practical Utopia
The Many Lives of Dartington Hall
Anna Neima(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 28. April 2022
Book
Hardback
322 pages
978-1-316-51797-0 (ISBN)
Description
Dartington Hall was a social experiment of kaleidoscopic vitality, set up in Devon in 1925 by a fabulously wealthy American heiress, Dorothy Elmhirst (nee Whitney), and her Yorkshire-born husband, Leonard. It quickly achieved international fame with its progressive school, craft production and wide-ranging artistic endeavours. Dartington was a residential community of students, teachers, farmers, artists and craftsmen committed to revivifying life in the countryside. It was also a socio-cultural laboratory, where many of the most brilliant interwar minds came to test out their ideas about art, society, spirituality and rural regeneration. To this day, Dartington Hall remains a symbol of countercultural experimentation and a centre for arts, ecology and social justice. Practical Utopia presents a compelling portrait of a group of people trying to live out their ideals, set within an international framework, and demonstrates Dartington's tangled affinities with other unity-seeking projects across Britain and in India and America.
Reviews / Votes
'Neima's book will serve as stimulating and indeed essential reading for anyone wishing to delve deeply into the Dartington dream.' Simon Timms, The Devon HistorianMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
619 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-316-51797-0 (9781316517970)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
05/2024
Cambridge University Press
€37.60
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
04/2022
Cambridge University Press
€78.99
Available for download

E-Book
04/2022
Cambridge University Press
€31.99
Available for download
Person
Anna Neima completed her doctorate in history at the University of Cambridge and is now a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow. Her first book, The Utopians (2021), tells the story of six communities started around the globe after the First World War.
Content
Introduction: An experiment in the art of living; 1. Overview; 2. Social and spiritual questing; 3. Education for change; 4. Creativity for all; 5. Regenerating rural life; Conclusion: The afterlife of a utopia.