Introduction

“In the land of nowhere,” fantasized Thomas More, “it had been established by King Utopus that it should be lawful for every man to favor and follow what religion he would.” It sounds so reasonable five centuries later that one might forget what every commentator reminds us—that there is a word play in the title of More’s little book: eutopia in ancient Greek means “good place,” and thus the good place is nowhere.

Has nowhere been the ...