Synopses & Reviews
Alexander Berkman was a twentieth-century American revolutionary. Like the abolitionist John Brown before him, Berkman was hugely idealistic, ready to go to the furthest extreme of self-sacrifice and violence on behalf of justice and civil rights. He decided to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick after reading in the newspaper that Pinkertons hired by Frick had opened fire on the Homestead strikers, killing men, women, and children. Berkmans bungled attempt cost him fifteen years in a federal penitentiary. Upon his release, he became an effective agitator against conscription and was again imprisoned and eventually deported to Russia, where he saw at first hand the early days of Bolshevism. Berkmans writings remain a lasting and impassioned record of intense political transformation.
Featuring a new introduction by Howard Zinn, Life of an Anarchist contains Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, Berkmans account of his years in prison; The Bolshevik Myth, his eyewitness account of the early days of the Russian Revolution; and The ABC of Anarchism, the classic text on the nature of anarchism in the twentieth century. Also included are a selection of letters between Berkman and his lifelong companion Emma Goldman, and a generous sampling from Berkmans other publications.
Synopsis
America's most famous 20th century anarchist, newly repackaged with an introduction by Howard Zinn.
About the Author
Jailed for 14 years in a federal prison for attempting to assassinate steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, Alexander Berkman became a famous and effective agitators in America. Eventually he was deported to Russia where he saw first-hand the early days of Bolshevism. Gene Fellner is an activist and artist living in Jersey City, NJ, where he edits and illustrates the GLF Occasional. He has been a staff worker for the Attica Brothers Legal Defense and a founder of the Cold Type Organizing Committee. In 1987 he was named Distinguished Artist by the New Jersey State Council of the Arts. Historian and activist Howard Zinn's visionary telling of our history is widely considered one of the most important and influential of our era. In A People's History of the United States, A Young People's History of the United States, Voices of a People's History of the United States, and, in Spanish, La otra historia de los Estados Unidos, Zinn affirms the power of the people to influence the course of events. Zinn's other books include the newly updated The Zinn Reader, Terrorism and War with Anthony Arnove, the autobiographical You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, and the play Marx in Soho.