The West has long attracted visionaries and schemers from around the world. And no other region in North America can outstrip British Columbia for the number of utopian or intentional settlement attempts in the past 150 years. Andrew Scott delves into the dramatic stories of these fascinating, but often doomed, communities. From Doukhobor farmers to Finnish coal miners, Quakers and hippies, many groups have struggled to build idealistic colonies in BC’s inspiring landscape. While most discovered hardship, disillusionment and failure, new groups sprang up—and continue to spring up—to take their place. Meet the quick-tempered, slave-driving Madame Zee (partner of the infamous Brother XII), who reportedly beat followers with a riding crop. Hear from Richard “The Troll” Schaller, who founded the Legal Front Commune, General Store and Funny Food Farm on the Sunshine Coast, setting off a storm of hostility from locals. Congregate with Jerry LeBourdais and fellow members of the Ochiltree Organic Commune, who rebelled from hippie communes by embracing meat eating and coffee drinking. With careful research and engaging first-person accounts, Scott sifts through the wreckage of the utopia-seekers’ dreams and delves into the practices and philosophies of contemporary intentional communities. This book is a compendium of astounding misadventures as well as an intriguing analysis of what moves people to search for paradise.

カナダの壮麗な自然を舞台に、理想郷を追った人々の情熱と挫折を鮮烈に描いた傑作です。著者は単なる歴史の記録に留まらず、人間の「楽園への渇望」と集団心理が孕む狂気や滑稽さを、緻密なリサーチと文学的な叙情で鋭く掘り下げています。 強烈な指導者たちの野心や崩れ去った夢の残骸を辿る旅は、読む者の魂を激しく揺さぶります。なぜ人は失敗を繰り返しても理想を追うのか。その根源的な問いを突きつける本作は、真の幸福と共同体の在り方を深く再考させる、知的な刺激に満ちた至高の一冊です。