Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-249) and index.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction : Minor utopias and the visionary temperament -- 1. 1900 : The face of humanity and visions of peace -- 2. 1919 : Perpetual war/perpetual peace -- 3. 1937 : Illuminations -- 4. 1948 : Human rights -- 5. 1968 : Liberation -- 6. 1992 : Global citizenship -- Epilogue : An alternative history of the twentieth century -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

"In the wake of the monstrous projects of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and others in the twentieth century, the idea of utopia has been discredited. Yet, historian Jay Winter suggests, alongside the "major utopians" who murdered millions in their attempts to transform the world were disaparate groups of individuals trying to imagine a radically better world. This book focuses on some of the twentieth century's "minor utopias," whose stories, overshadowed by the Holocaust and the Gulag, suggest that the future need not be as catastrophic as the past."--BOOK JACKET.