This work investigates the ideological foundations and practical implementation of Robert Owen’s vision for a cooperative society in both Britain and the United States. John E. Harrison, a scholar of nineteenth-century social movements, utilizes primary source documents and historical records to analyze the rise and eventual decline of the Owenite movement. The text argues that the quest for a 'New Moral World' was driven by a specific critique of industrial capitalism and a desire to restructure human relations through communal living and educational reform.

Historians and researchers frequently cite this volume as a comprehensive resource for understanding the early development of utopian socialism. The text is noted for its academic rigor and its detailed contextualization of Owen’s influence on subsequent labor and social reform movements.