News from Nowhere

News From Nowhere by William Morris (1834-1896) is a work of speculative science fiction and socialist utopian imagination. The narrator, William Guest, is mysteriously transported from 1890 to the 21st century. As he travels through a version of London that is both familiar and strange, he records his impressions of the socialist society that has come to replace the industrialized, capitalist one of his own time. Through conversations with a number of 21st-century Londoners, Guest also learns how the late 19th century appears from the perspective of the future. Originally published in Commonweal, a British socialist newspaper, in 1890 and then issued with Morris’s revisions in 1891, News From Nowhere reflects its author’s socialist politics and anti-industrial positions. Educated at Oxford, Morris was a member of several organizations in Britain that advocated for the practice of Marxism in mainstream politics, including the Democratic Federation and the Socialist League. His commercial designs—in particular, his distinctive patterns for wallpaper and textiles—and belief in the importance of beauty in everyday life made him a leading influence on and figure in Britain’s Arts and Crafts movement. He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891 and was a prolific poet, novelist, and translator.

This guide refers to the Kindle version of the Ahzar Publishing edition released in 2022. Although the publisher information identifies the book as the “original 1890 text,” it is based on Morris’s 1891 revision.

Content Warning: This guide mentions suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

After an evening of political discussions, 56-year-old William Guest falls asleep in 1890 and wakes up in the 21st century. While his surroundings in the Hammersmith district of London are still somewhat recognizable, Guest almost immediately senses that something has changed. Emerging from the house into unseasonably warm weather, Guest encounters Richard “Dick” Hammond in a boat on the River Thames. Dick, observing Guest’s reactions to the unexpected beauty of the surroundings, assumes that Guest is visiting from a faraway location and insists on being his tour guide.

Guest reveals his ignorance about the society he has found himself in as soon as he asks Dick how much the boat ride will cost. As he gradually realizes just how outdated Guest’s view of London is, Dick proposes to bring Guest to meet his great-grandfather, who knows about history and can better explain their society. After meeting two of Dick’s friends, Annie and Boffin, and eating a meal at Hammersmith, Guest and Dick set off on a carriage.

During the ride into central London, key features of 21st-century society come into view. No money changes hands, children run around freely, and the people are beautiful and youthful. Dick explains different customs and attitudes; for instance, he tells Guest that children are encouraged to camp in the wilderness to learn about the natural world and that they pick up books only when they become interested in learning.

When they arrive at Hammond’s home, Dick goes to speak with a woman named Clara. Guest asks Hammond all of his questions about their society, including how they deal with love, crime, government, and any interpersonal issues that arise. The obvious connection between Dick and Clara leads, for example, to the topic of divorce. With no private property, divorce is no longer a contentious event. Love itself is understood as one important aspect of life, but not something that defines happiness for everyone. Hammond, moreover, tells Guest that obviously women and men are equal in their society.

Hammond explains that poverty has been completely eradicated. The population is about the same as it was before the revolution, but it is more spread out, so there are no slums in London. The most difficult part of the transition, he reflects, was that people were not used to finding pleasure in their daily lives because they were not accustomed to having so much freedom.

The government, Hammond says, is minimal. It is composed of all people but lacks intermediary organizations like the parliament, police, and courts. Citizens make collective decisions democratically—their community has a meeting; they are given space to make proposals, present arguments, and vote for or against certain movements; and if someone disagrees, they usually defer to the majority. Crime, Hammond continues, has been eradicated along with private property: People do not need to revert to violence to survive, and people no longer see women as their property. Those who commit transgressions are expected to atone on their own. To punish them further would be to force them to feel anger and humiliation that may drive them to want revenge on the people who made him feel that way. Markets are governed by general consensus. Ultimately, no law is necessary because they do not believe that punishment is necessary. When Guest asks about incentive to work, Hammond explains that life is the incentive. Work does not mean suffering; in fact, work injects meaning into their lives. Machines from the 19th century complete any work deemed universally unpleasant, and people do the rest; because people never run out of pursuits within science and art, there is no fear of a complete lack of work.

Hammond spends a long time explaining how they arrived at their current societal structure. Socialism and communism had been around since the late 19th century, but its early proponents did not really believe that kind of change could come about in reality. During the ensuing decades, the ongoing struggle between workers and masters allowed workers to win some improvements and a degree of state socialism, but these reforms did not fundamentally change the system. In the end, the government’s use of force to break up a peaceful meeting sparked the revolution. The government began to arrest dissenting journalists and activists, and the people engaged in a general strike. Newspapers took the opportunity to educate the masses on the possibilities of socialism. The government gave power to the governing body of the resistance, and with the growing support of the working class, communism became the only option moving forward.

After this conversation, Guest returns to Hammersmith with Dick and Clara. He reflects on how happy he is in this world and fears the inevitable end of his sojourn. The next morning, Guest, Dick, and Clara begin their leisurely journey up the Thames for the hay harvest in Oxfordshire. They stop at Runnymede for the night, where they meet Ellen and her grandfather. While Ellen is eternally optimistic, her grandfather criticizes the present state of society and looks to the past with nostalgia.

The river journey continues, offering views of people happily working the land, a sharp contrast to Guest’s perception of rural life in 1890. When they arrive in the village, Dick’s friend explains that they had a recent tragedy in their community. A quarrel over love has led to murder, and the murderer himself is now in suicidal despair.

Ellen rejoins the traveling party, and Dick feels comfortable enough with her to divulge that he comes from another time, rather than another place. She implies that she knew something like that was true and that she rejoined them on their journey to spend more time with him. Guest speaks openly about the past now that she is aware of his situation.

They arrive at their final destination on the river, and Ellen brings Guest into an old country house. She enthusiastically leads him around the house and the garden and then hands him off to Dick, who escorts him to a feast. Suddenly, however, Guest’s companions no longer seem to be able to see him. Dick looks right through him, and Clara does the same; after a moment of brief recognition, Ellen, too, is unable to see him. Although he always knew his journey would end, Guest is devastated. He leaves the church and enters the woods, and a black gust makes him unable to tell where he is.

Once he awakes back in 1890, he contemplates whether he is saddened that the experience was, in fact, a dream. He accepts that his time in that world, regardless of its nature, had an inevitable end and that he can still take with him the truth and happiness that he witnessed on his journey. The book ends with Guest considering that if others could see what he saw, perhaps they would call it a “vision rather than a dream” (248).