News from Nowhere (1890) is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. In the book, the narrator, William Guest, falls asleep after returning from a meeting of the Socialist League and awakes to find himself in a future society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production. In this society there is no private property, no big cities, no authority, no monetary system, no divorce, no courts, no prisons, and no class systems. This agrarian society functions simply because the people find pleasure in nature, and therefore they find pleasure in their work. In the novel, Morris tackles one of the most common criticisms of socialism; the supposed lack of incentive to work in a communistic society. Morris' response is that all work should be creative and pleasurable. (Summary by Wikipedia)
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Chapters
- Chapter 1
Chapter 1, Discussion and Bed
06:14 - Chapter 2
Chapter 2, A Morning Bath
16:53 - Chapter 3
Chapter 3, The Guest House and Breakfast Therein
19:20 - Chapter 4
Chapter 4, A Market By the Way
06:37 - Chapter 5
Chapter 5, Children on the Road
14:04 - Chapter 6
Chapter 6, A Little Shopping
14:55 - Chapter 7
Chapter 7, Trafalgar Square
15:21 - Chapter 8
Chapter 8, An Old Friend
07:32 - Chapter 9
Chapter 9, Concerning Love
24:03 - Chapter 10
Chapter 10, Questions and Answers
24:02 - Chapter 11
Chapter 11, Concerning Government
08:40 - Chapter 12
Chapter 12, Concerning the Arrangement of Life
11:23 - Chapter 13
Chapter 13, Concerning Politics and Chapter 14, How Matters Are Arranged
12:00 - Chapter 14
Chapter 15, On the Lack of Incentive to Labour in a Communist Society
18:03 - Chapter 15
Chapter 16, Dinner in the Hall of Bloomsbury Market
08:36 - Chapter 16
Chapter 17, Part 1, How the Change Came
31:11 - Chapter 17
Chapter 17, Part 2, How the Change Came
27:38 - Chapter 18
Chapter 18, The Beginning of the New Life
11:08 - Chapter 19
Chapter 19, The Drive Back to Hammersmith
11:00 - Chapter 20
Chapter 20, The Hammersmith Guest House Again, and Chapter 21, Going Up the River
09:13 - Chapter 21
Chapter 22, Hampton Court and a Praiser of Past Times
20:46 - Chapter 22
Chapter 23, An Early Morning By Runnymede
11:57 - Chapter 23
Chapter 24, Up the Thames: The Second Day
18:31 - Chapter 24
Chapter 25, The Third Day on the Thames
08:59 - Chapter 25
Chapter 26, The Obstinate Refusers
09:08 - Chapter 26
Chapter 27, The Upper Waters
22:33 - Chapter 27
Chapter 28, The Little River
08:22 - Chapter 28
Chapter 29, A Resting-Place on the Upper Thames
10:06 - Chapter 29
Chapter 30, The Journey's End
12:04 - Chapter 30
Chapter 31, An Old House Amongst New Folk
10:50 - Chapter 31
Chapter 32, The Feast's Beginning - The End
13:15