AK Press, [url]http://www.akpress.org/[/url], which is probably now the leading publisher of scholarly books on anarchism has added to its collections the remarkable works of Paul Avrich, the leading scholar on American anarchism. I will mention:
* Anarchist Voices: An Oral History Of Anarchism In America (Unabridged), 2005. Pb. ISBN: 1904859275.
This is certainly one of the most precious books ever written on American anarchism. Probably the first work on oral history in that particular field, it offers testimonies from 180 interviewees who give first-hand accounts on major events such as the Sacco Vanzetti trial and on some of the most active personalities in the movement as well as on unknown militants. One can only hope that such a work will always remain in print!
* The Modern School Movement: Anarchism And Education In The United States, 2005. Pb. ISBN:1904859097
Also a ground-breaking work on a remarkable anarchist communitarian alternative community, which included artists, philosophers, teachers, activists, teachers and children. There is still much to learn from those experiences in alternative education, but also on the relations between anarchism and the world at large.
* Dreams Of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magon Reader. Ricardo Flores Magon, Chaz Bufe (Editor), and Mitchell Verter (Editor). 2005. Pb. ISBN: 1904859240
Now that a large number of Hispanics are adding English to their first language, this book will be quite useful in understanding various aspects of the Mexican Revolution. Ricardo Flores Magon was one of its major actors in spite of his incarceration in U.S. prisons. A wonderful lesson in courage and tenacity.
May I add what I hope will not be a wishful thought? While anarchist history remains a neglected field and deserves such studies, it is to be hoped that people will not only look at the past but also at the present. There is an extraordinary lack of popular books on anarchist theories, and probably also a similar lack of interest among militants. Certain themes, inherited from the old socialist tradition, are discussed here and there – a good example is "class struggle". But others, such as "affinity groups", "federation" or "insurrections" are hardly mentioned. The large historical literature on anarchist artists also deserves some more general reflexion on art for the people. One may also hope that after Richar Porton's Film and the Anarchist Imagination [url]raforum.apinc.org/article.php3?id_article=1264[/url] there will appear similar works on contemporary movies, songs, and other forms of esthetic expression. There areprobably hundreds of unknown artists, cartoonists, and theater groups waiting for asatisfying inventory of all their attempts in anarchist expression.
I will be happy to add any information on all those people and works to the Research on Anarchism web site.
Ronald Creagh [mailto]ronald.creagh@wanadoo.fr[/mailto]
The Research on Anarchism List (RA-L) is an international forum which was started on January 1, 1996, and is devoted to book reviews, research and discussion of the theories, histories and cultures of world anarchist movements and to other topics related to anarchism.
Our site: [url]http://raforum.apinc.org[/url]