by Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin (Author), Martin Miller (Editor)

The selection is designed to reveal such fundamental conceptions as Kropotkin's interpretation of the role of anarchism in modern history, his criticism of capitalism, his theory of revolution, and his views of the ideals to be realized in the postrevolutionary society of the future.

Author Biography

Kropotkin, the anarchist prince, sought to redefine anarchism as a philosophy of civilization which was antithetical to terrorist acts and assassination. His politcal system of anarchist communism was based on the idea that all external authroity was corrupt. He questioned the legitimacy of every form of government and criticized the injustice of every institution based on authority. Kropotkin's first political essay, written in 1873 and translated here from the Russian for the first time, is a particularly valuable contribution in this regard. This manifesto is the first coherent expression of his early anarchism and foreshadows much of his later thinking. The first-hand recording of Kropotkin's meeting with Lenin in the spring of 1919, also an original translation, is equally revealing.