Alexander Berkman was a 20th 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. Berkman’s bungled attempt cost him 15 years in a federal penitentiary. Upon his release, he became an effective agitator against conscription, was again imprisoned and eventually deported to Russia, where he saw firsthand the early days of Bolshevism. Berkman’s writings remain a lasting and impassioned record of intense political transformation.
Life of an Anarchist contains Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, Berkman’s 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 20th century. Also included are a selection of letters between Berkman and his life-long companion Emma Goldman, and a generous sampling from Berkman’s other publications.
Berkman – Life of An Anarchist – The Alexander Berkman Reader.pdf15.18 MB
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