# James Buckingham — The Story of Utopias character guide

> James Buckingham in The Story of Utopias by Lewis Mumford.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Buckingham

**First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-utopias

## Snapshot

A mid-Victorian reformer who traded Plato's glorious dream for floor plans, specifying exactly how many rooms each working family would occupy.

## Who they are

Buckingham's utopia is a model town with drawings and specifications, an early attempt to put social engineering on a basis an architect could actually build from. He is not a deep critic of institutions; his ends are the respectable ends of his age, and his virtue is practicality rather than imagination. Mumford uses him as the hinge where utopia stops dreaming and starts drafting — a gain in feasibility, a loss in soul.

## Relationships

### [John Ruskin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/john_ruskin)

_professional_

Buckingham and Ruskin were both Victorian social reformers and writers, though with differing approaches to utopian community design.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi)

Central figure of the chapter; his utopia 'Victoria' is described in detail as a bourgeois ideal.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v)

Buckingham is mentioned alongside Hertzka as a utopian who wishes to extend middle-class values throughout society.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as an example of nineteenth-century utopias of reconstruction.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi)

Contributed the importance of converting eutopia into detailed plans and layouts.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/james_buckingham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters