{"product_id":"sabotaged-9781496207920","title":"Sabotaged","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2020 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association Book Award Alongside the various people moving into and through the nineteenth-century Texas frontier was a group of European intellectuals bent on establishing a socialist utopia near the hamlet of Dallas. Their inspiration, French philosopher Charles Fourier, envisioned a society in which basic human ambitions would be expressed and cultivated, tied together by the bonds of emotion. Fourier's self-appointed disciple Victor Considerant led the establishment of La Réunion in 1855, organized under a Paris stock company. James Pratt weaves together the dramatic story of this utopia: the complex tale of a diverse group of Europeans who sought a new society but were forced to face the realities of life in nineteenth-century Texas.    Considerant's followers endured a long ocean voyage with Spanish gunboats following in their Caribbean wake. They brushed blooming magnolias through Buffalo Bayou between Galveston Bay and Houstonso nar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eSabotaged: Dreams of Utopia in Texas\u003c\/i\u003e is a richly detailed account of the early Texas Left and a surprising chapter in the history of a historically conservative city.\"—Michael Phillips, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eSabotaged\u003c\/i\u003e] tells the long-needed story of La Réunion and should be a welcome addition to the library of anyone who cares about Dallas or Fort Worth history.\"—Richard Selcer, \u003ci\u003eSouthwestern Historical Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Historian Pratt has taken a complex subject and narrated the rise and failure in a fascinating way.\"—Chuck Parsons, \u003ci\u003eTombstone Epitaph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eSabotaged\u003c\/i\u003e is the \u003ci\u003etrue\u003c\/i\u003e story of an attempt to create a socialist utopia by a most unlikely group of elite Europeans at a most unlikely place in America called Texas. Their failure was caused by bad dreaming, poor planning, and harsh weather as well as clashing—sabotaging—personalities and egos. James Pratt’s account of it all is detailed—and riveting.”—Jim Lehrer, former executive editor and anchor for \u003ci\u003ePBS NewsHour\u003c\/i\u003e and author of \u003ci\u003eTop Down: A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“James Pratt’s history of La Réunion is one of the most significant contributions to the historiography of the Dallas area in decades. . . . Pratt’s portrait adds depth and drama to the story, which began with idealistic hopes, involved hardships of almost biblical proportions, and ended in division and recriminations. It’s a must for anyone interested in Dallas history, nineteenth-century utopian communities, or just a fascinating good read.”—Michael V. Hazel, historian and author of \u003ci\u003eDallas: A History of “Big D”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“At last! James Pratt’s long-anticipated account of the utopian community La Réunion fills a missing but essential and romantic chapter of Dallas’s early history. It’s a remarkable story with astounding new details. . . . Pratt’s work is important not only for Dallas’s pre–Civil War history but as a welcome addition to the literature of the nineteenth-century utopian community phenomenon.”—Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of communications at Southern Methodist University and author of \u003ci\u003eIndomitable Sarah: The Life of Judge Sarah T. Hughes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003e Preface\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: Charles Fourier's Philosophy in Brief\u003cbr\u003e 1. The Doctor's Community\u003cbr\u003e 2. A Better Site for a \u003ci\u003ePhalanstère\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 3. First Emissaries to the Frontier\u003cbr\u003e 4. Preparations and the View from Paris\u003cbr\u003e 5. Preparations and the View from Guise\u003cbr\u003e 6. Preparations and the View from Brussels\u003cbr\u003e 7. Preparations and the View from La Chapelle-Gaugain\u003cbr\u003e 8. Preparations and the View from New York\u003cbr\u003e 9. Finding Land\u003cbr\u003e 10. Sailing to America\u003cbr\u003e 11. Expectations\u003cbr\u003e 12. Storm Clouds\u003cbr\u003e 13. From Sails to Steam to Feet\u003cbr\u003e 14. From Houston to the Three Forks\u003cbr\u003e 15. First Days Building and the Bloom of June\u003cbr\u003e 16. Confronting the Vision\u003cbr\u003e 17. Trying Out Life\u003cbr\u003e 18. Considerant and Texas Politics\u003cbr\u003e 19. Downward Slide\u003cbr\u003e 20. Demise\u003cbr\u003e 21. Endings and New Beginning\u003cbr\u003e Afterword: La Réunion’s Influences on Dallas\u003cbr\u003e Appendix: Persons and Places\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409222607191,"sku":"9781496207920","price":32.91,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496207920.jpg?v=1730506015","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/sabotaged-9781496207920","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}