The Annotated Flatland

Flatland is a unique, delightful satire that has charmed readers for over a century. Published in 1884 by the English clergyman and headmaster Edwin A. Abbott, it is the fanciful tale of A. Square, a two-dimensional being who is whisked away by a mysterious visitor to The Land of Three Dimensions, an experience that forever alters his worldview—just as the book altered the worldview of its Victorian readers with the then-radical idea of a fourth dimension.

Like Abbott's original text, Ian Stewart’s commentary takes readers on a strange and wonderful journey. With clarity and wit, Stewart illuminates Abbott’s numerous Victorian references, weaves in biographical information about Abbott and his intellectual circle, which included the novelist H.G. Wells and the mathematician George Boole, and traces the scientific evolution of geometric forms and dimensions.

Touching on such diverse topics as ancient Babylon, Karl Marx, Frankenstein, Mt. Everest, and phrenology. Stewart makes fascinating connections between Flatland and Edwin Abbott’s life and times. The result is a classic to rival Abbott’s own, and a book that will inspire and delight curious readers for generations to come.