A groundbreaking fantasy novel, The Wood Beyond the World tells the story of a young man, Golden Walter, who finds himself in a strange and frightening world after being abandoned by his wife and lost at sea. The novel takes the form of Walter’s quest for the visionary Maid that he sees at the beginning of his journey, and takes him from his failed marriage through temptation to emotional fulfillment. Set in Morris’s imaginative recreation of a medieval world, the novel is full of vivid imagery and surprising emotional realism. This edition collates for the first time the three early texts of the work. The introduction discusses the place of the book among Morris’s other prose romances, the events of his life, and his activities as a visual artist and a socialist. The appendices provide excerpts from Morris’s translation of Beowulf, other medieval texts read by Morris, and writings by his contemporaries on politics and aesthetics.

What makes a story a story? What is style? What’s the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely—from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings—Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. The result is nothing less than a philosophy of the novel—plainspoken, funny, blunt—in the traditions of E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. It sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision. It will change the way you read.

Poet, pattern-designer, environmentalist and maker of fine books, William Morris (1834-96) was also a committed socialist and visionary writer, obsessively concerned with the struggle to achieve a perfect society on earth. News From Nowhere, one of the most significant English works on the theme of utopia, is the tale of William Guest, a Victorian who wakes one morning to find himself in the year 2102 and discovers a society that has changed beyond recognition into a pastoral paradise, in which all people live in blissful equality and contentment. A socialist masterpiece, News From Nowhere is a vision of a future free from capitalism, isolation and industrialisation. This volume also contains a wide selection of Morris's writings, lectures, journalism and letters, which expand upon the key themes of News From Nowhere.

This is the biography of the life, times and countryside of the rather sad and curious author of 'The wind in the willows'. He was the youngest Secretary of the Bank of England and yet lived in a dream world, creating wonderful stories.

Best of 2006: Vanguard published two major books, one focusing on Basil Gogos, and the other, a biography, on the career and sad life of the great Wallace Wood, WALLY's WORLD...a welcome addition to my bookcase. -- Innocent Bystander, January, 2007 WALLY'S WORLD (Vanguard), is a serious and sensitive look at an important artist. Recommended. -- Library Journal, January, 2007 WALLY'S WORLD is a fascinating book. I am stunned by the quality of Wood's fine art. -- Faith Middleton, WNPR, National Public Radio 11/17/06

When bookstore owner Sylvia Lynn returns to her childhood home in upstate New York, she meets the Fiber Guild - a group of local women who meet to knit, embroider, and sew - and learns why her grandmother watches her so closely. A primitive power exists in the forest, a force the Fiber Guild seeks to bind in its stitches and weavings. And Sylvia is no stranger to the woods...

William Morris is famous in no small part for his contributions to defining the genre of modern fantasy literature, and The Wood Beyond the World is a classic example of that influence. Written in a purposefully-antiquated prose style reminiscent of Sir Thomas Malory or other aged fairy tales, The Wood Beyond the World can be difficult for some readers; but those who follow through will enjoy a charming and influential series of picaresque adventures. The book follows Golden Walter, a man leaving home who finds himself swept away to an enchanted land. He encounters a fair maiden who is trapped by an enchantress and her consort. Walter must, like all good heroes, save the maiden and see if they can make it to happily ever after. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.