The Modern Utopian: Alternative Communities Then and Now

Communes. Bold and visionary, thousands of young people across the country rejected a nation in denial and decay and re-imagined a better way. Many flocked back to the land while others recharged the cities. Some groups were dazzling social experiments that burned bright and brief; others evolved through the years and are still going strong today.

The Modern Utopian is a firsthand view into dozens of intentional communities of the '60s and '70s. This photo-illustrated compilation of articles from Richard Fairfield's eponymous magazine visits the fabled Drop City, Morningstar Ranch, Timothy Leary at Millbrook, Detroit's Translove Energies, the still - thriving Twin Oaks and Stephen Gaskin's Farm, and dozens of others across the nation.

Global warming… recession peak oil… data smog… by necessity and by choice, thousands of people are once again being drawn toward collective living, this time enriched by the successes and failures of the past.