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. By contemplating the notion of dimensions beyond their own, Abbott's Victorian readers were exposed to the then-radical idea of a fourth dimension - preparing them for Einstein's spectacular theories of relativity
Like the original, 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 little known biographical information about Abbott and his intellectual circle - elucidating Abbott's remarkable connections to H. G. Wells and the mathematician George Boole - and traced the scientific evolution of geometric forms and dimensions.
In addition, Stewart provides an extensive bibliography of Abbott's work and that of Charles Howard Hinton, whose wild but ingenious speculations about the fourth dimension undoubtedly inspired Abbott's fable.