A Dorset Utopia - The Little Commonwealth and Homer Lane by Judith Stinton - 2005 - softback - 152pp - 155x233mm - 40 b+w illustrations - Price £11.95 - ISBN 09528839-4-5

The Little Commonwealth, 1913-1918, was a unique experiment in rehabilitation and self-government. Adolescent boys and girls, mostly with criminal records, were taken from inner city slums to remotest Dorset, where they were encouraged to build their own houses, make their own laws and work together as part of a unique community. It was an experiment which would seem radical even today.

The leader was an American youth worker called Homer Lane who inspired among others A.S. Neill, the founder of Summerhill. When eventually some of the girls made accusations against him, the Little Commonwealth was forced to close. Lane was almost certainly innocent of the charges, but they ruined his career and have shadowed accounts of his remarkable work with troubled children.

Using original documents and archive photographs Judith Stinton¹s fascinating book recreates the turbulent years of the Little Commonwealth - as far as possible from the children's viewpoint - returning Lane's work to
the centre of the debate on the treatment of young offenders.