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William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary
William Morris Romantic to Revolutionary Author:E. P. Thompson William Morris, one of the most fascinating and multifaceted of Victorian England's writers and artists, has been the subject of many books. These have centered on Morris the decorator and the artist, but have paid far less attention to his great output as a writer and even less to his practical and theoretical work as a pioneer in rev... more »olutionary socialism. Edward Thompson's major interpretive and biographical study deals with all aspects of Morris's work but seeks to make up for the neglect of these crucial aspects of Morris's life.
Beginning with an analysis of Morris's later Romantic writings, Thompson moves on to an account of the deadlock that was expressed both in his unhappy personal life and in his failure to revolutionize society through the practice of art. Thereafter, Thompson charts the stages by which Morris was drawn into an increasingly active political life, going from the peace movements of the 1870s to anti-imperialism and finally to revolutionary socialism. In his later years, Morris spent his amazing energies in working for the socialist cause. From many unpublished sources, as well as from the Commonweal, which Morris edited for six years, Thompson follows the practical course of this commitment and discusses the ways in which Morris transformed the long Romantic tradition of moral critique of industrial capitalism and gave it a revolutionary direction.« less
ISBN-13: 9780394411361 ISBN-10: 0394411366 Publication Date: 1977 Pages:829 Edition:1st American ed Rating: