It is important at the outset to understand certain circumstances connected with the writing of Utopia. During More's stay in the Low Countries, there was a long recess in the official negotiations, during which he spent a good deal of time in conversations with that friend of Erasmus, Peter Giles. The tenor of their speculations on world-wide problems apparently led More into writing down his account of an imaginary kingdom on an imaginary island. That account was to become the basis for, or chief portion of, Book II of Utopia. During the year following his return to England, he wrote Book I, the section on contemporary English and European society, which offers sharp contrasts to Utopian life.
This over-simplified account will serve for the present. A fuller explanation of details of the piecing together of these parts and the significance of this information for the better understanding of More's life and personality, as well as how they impinge upon the work, Utopia, will be presented later.
