The Anarchist Reader - George Woodcock

George Woodcock's collection of writings on anarchism from a range of thinkers, including Peter Kropotkin, Max Stirner and Oscar Wilde.

Submitted by adri on January 14, 2019

Contents:
Anarchism: A Historical Introduction by George Woodcock
Part One: The Anarchist Stance
1. Anarchy- Anarchist by Sebastian Faure
2. Anarchy Defined by Errico Malatesta
3. Birth of Anarchy, Death of Property by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
4. Disobedience: Man's Original Virtue by Oscar Wilde
5. Anarchism and the Religious Impulse by Herbert Read
Part Two: The Anarchists Accuse
6. Church and the State by Michael Bakunin
7. State and the Sacred by Max Stirner
8. Normal Politics and the Psychology of Power by Paul Goodman
9. War is the Health of the State by Randolph Bourne
10. The Indefensible Constitution by Lysander Spooner
11. The Illusion of Universal Suffrage by Michael Bakunin
12. Parliamentary Isolation by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
13. Uselessness of Laws by Peter Kropotkin
14. Violence of Laws by Leo Tolstoy
15. On Punishment by William Godwin
16. Prison and it's Effects by Peter Kropotkin
17. On Property by William Godwin
18. Tyranny of the Clock by George Woodcock
Part Three: The Wrong Road of Change
19. To Karl Marx by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
20. Perils of the Marxist State by Michael Bakunin
21. State Socialism and Anarchism by Benjamin Tucker
22. The Failure of the Russian Revolution by Emma Goldman
Part Four: Revolution? Rebellion? Insurrection?
23. Principle of Revolution by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
24. Revolution and Insurrection by Max Stirner
25. Anarchist Action by Nicolas Walter
26. Affinity Groups by Murray Bookchin
27. Revolution and Social Reality by Alex Comfort
28. Anarchism and Violence by Peter Kropotkin
29. Violence of the Lawful World by Alexander Berkman
30. Assassin's Attempt by Alexander Berkman
31. A Terrorist's Defence by Emile Henry
32. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
33. Resistance to Military Service by Leo Tolstoy
34. Syndicalism Defined by George Woodcock
35. Syndicalism: An Advocacy by Pierre Monatte
36. Syndicalism: An Anarchist Critique by Errico Malatesta
Part Five: Flowers for the Rebels who Failed
37. The Paris Commune, 1871 by Peter Kropotkin
38. Makhno's Anarchism in practice by Peter Arshinov
39. Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War by Bueneventura Durutti with Pierre van Paasen
40. Barcelona 1936 by George Orwell
41. Andalusian Commune by Franz Borkenau
42. Commune in Aragon by Gaston Leval
43. Song for the Spanish Anarchists by Herbert Read
44. Paris 1968 by Murray Bookchin
Part Six: Liberating Education
45. Evils of National Education by William Godwin
46. Education through Desire by William Godwin
47. Alternatives to Miseducation by Paul Goodman
48. Aesthetic Approach to Education by Herbert Read
Part Seven: Glimpses of a New World
49. The Old Society, and the New by Pierre-Jospeh Proudhon
50. Dissolution of Government by William Godwin
51. Arranging our Lives by Leo Tolstoy
52. What is Authority by Michael Bakunin
53. The Revolution and the Nation by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
54. Topless Federation by Colin Ward
55. Reflections on Decentralism by George Woodcock
56. Organization of Production by James Guillaume
57. Lazy Men and Dirty Work by Alexander Berkman
58. Work and the Machine by William Morris
59. The Time Store by Josiah Warren
60. Exchange and Distribution by James Guillaume
61. On the Wage System by Peter Kropotkin
62. Crime in a Free World by Peter Kropotkin
63. Anarchism and Ecology by Murray Bookchin

Comments

Noah Fence

5 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Noah Fence on January 14, 2019

I borrowed this from the local library when I was 16 years old 37 years ago! I never took it back even though it all went completely over my head. The only piece I remember understanding was The Tyranny of the Clock by Woodcock himself.
Strangely I still know where that particular copy of the book is - in the possession of an uber liberal hippy musician doing the self sufficiency thing in the Welsh Valleys. Oh, the irony. Full disclosure - he was the bass player in our anarcho punk band!
Anyways, I recently bought another copy off Amazon. It’s next to me right now on my bedside table.

adri

5 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by adri on January 14, 2019

Noah Fence

I borrowed this from the local library when I was 16 years old 37 years ago! I never took it back even though it all went completely over my head. The only piece I remember understanding was The Tyranny of the Clock by Woodcock himself.
Strangely I still know where that particular copy of the book is - in the possession of an uber liberal hippy musician doing the self sufficiency thing in the Welsh Valleys. Oh, the irony. Full disclosure - he was the bass player in our anarcho punk band!
Anyways, I recently bought another copy off Amazon. It’s next to me right now on my bedside table.

Oh yes I stumbled across your post on that article when I was looking through the George Woodcock (who I haven't read a shred of) tag. He apparently has a ridiculous amount of biographies/"studies" on different people, such as Orwell, who he was friends with, Kropotkin, Proudhon, Godwin, Gabriel Dumont, Huxley, etc. I'm not sure if we needed another anthology of anarchism when there are some already on here (along with texts like the one you mentioned). I personally find Guerin's No Gods, No Masters anthology most informative as far as learning about anarchism and historical events where anarchists played a part. I uploaded it anyway, if not for archival purposes and making it freely available, because it seemed interesting with the addition of Wilde, along with some people I haven't read and I guess one wouldn't typically associate with anarchism.