William Morris: A Life for Our Time (2005) by Fiona MacCarthy is a definitive biography that captures the monumental legacy of William Morris—Victorian polymath, designer, poet, socialist, and founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement. MacCarthy’s meticulously researched work paints Morris as a man of relentless energy and contradiction: a romantic medievalist who pioneered modern design, a luxury artisan who championed workers’ rights, and a utopian visionary whose patterns still adorn homes worldwide.
The book traces Morris’s journey from his Oxford days with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to the founding of Morris & Co. (whose wallpapers and textiles revolutionized decorative arts), his radical socialist activism, and his literary works like News from Nowhere. MacCarthy delves into his turbulent marriage to Jane Morris, his collaborations with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, and his enduring influence on design, environmentalism, and craftivism.
Praised for its vivid prose and psychological depth, this biography frames Morris as a proto-modernist whose ethos—“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”—resonates deeply in today’s debates on sustainability and artisanal labor.
