Page "Edward Bellamy" Paragraph 6

Although Bellamy claimed he did not write Looking Backward as a blueprint for political action, but rather sought to write " a literary fantasy, a fairy tale of social felicity ," the book inspired legions of inspired readers to establish so-called Nationalist Clubs, beginning in Boston late in 1888.

Bellamy's vision of a country relieved of its social ills through abandonment of the principle of competition and establishment of state ownership of industry proved an appealing panacea to a generation of intellectuals alienated from the dark side of Gilded Age America.

By 1891 it was reported that no fewer than 162 Nationalist Clubs were in existence.