This text offers a major reassessment of the life and thought of the distinguished 19th century industrial philanthropist and educational reformer, Robert Owen. In a period when Owen's radical new visions for learning and teaching, adult and vocational pedagogy and social transformation are receiving fresh and global attention, Robert Davis and Frank O'Hagan place Owen's thought right at the heart of the Enlightenment advocacy of popular, democratic mass education. Tracing both the ancestry and the legacy of Owen's reforming spirit, they also offer a critical appraisal of the relevance of his ideas for the development of education at all levels and stages in the challenging contexts of international 21st century education.