William Morris and the Idea of Community

Romance, History and Propaganda, 18801914

Anna Vaninskaya author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Edinburgh University Press

Published:12th Oct '10

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

William Morris and the Idea of Community cover

The great polymath William Morris and his contemporaries and followers - from H. Rider Haggard to H. G. Wells - are the focus of this study. Anna Vaninskaya draws upon a wide array of primary sources: from working-class fiction and articles in fringe socialist newspapers to historical treatises, autobiographies and diaries, in order to explore the many ways Victorians and Edwardians talked about community and modernity. Vaninskaya's narrative moves from the realm of romance bestsellers and sniggering reviews to debates in weighty historical tomes, and then to the headquarters of revolutionary parties, to street-corners and shabby lecture halls. She demonstrates how in each domain the dream of community clashed with the reality of the modern state and market. Key Features * Brings together for the first time in one interdisciplinary study the worlds of fin de siecle literature, politics, and historiography * Redefines the terms of the critical debate about the late-Victorian romance revival * Puts into dialogue mainstream and marginal literary productions * Uncovers the full extent of the contemporary radical appropriations of nineteenth-century scholarship * Incorporates previously unexamined archival material

Literature, history and politics -- William Morris's task of building socialism in a capitalist world required action on all three fronts. Anna Vaninskaya's authoritative, lucid and yet passionate book provides a confident guide to all three fronts and to the wider world of Victorian understandings of community and civilization. -- Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Cambridge Literature, history and politics -- William Morris's task of building socialism in a capitalist world required action on all three fronts. Anna Vaninskaya's authoritative, lucid and yet passionate book provides a confident guide to all three fronts and to the wider world of Victorian understandings of community and civilization.

ISBN: 9780748641499

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 518g

240 pages