The Year 2440

Mercier was a dramatist and essayist, who was also a member of the Convention at the time of the French Revolution, and on the eve of the Revolution he poured his views on what was wrong with French society into his one utopian novel, which was so successful it went through some 25 different editions after it was first published in 1770. It's the story of a man of the time who suddenly finds himself in the Paris of 2440, and discovers a world with no monks, no beggars, no standing armies, no slaves, no taxes, and none of the things that Mercier thought were immoral and bad for society such as coffee, tea and tobacco. Instead there are hospitals whose procedures are based on science, there's a fair system of justice, and the people are better fed, better clad and happier. Why it's on the list This was one of the earliest glimpses of the future in the history of science fiction, and set the tone for a host of utopian future fictions that appeared over the next century or more.

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The Year 2440

Author: Louis SÃ©bastien Mercier