PeterKropotkinremainsoneofthebest-knownanarchistthinkers,andWordsofaRebelwashisfirstlibertarianbook.Publishedin1885whilehewasinaFrenchjailforanarchistactivism,thiscollectionofarticlesfromthenewspaperLeRevolt矇seesKropotkincriticisethefailingsofcapitalismandthosewhoseektoenditbymeansofitsmainsupport,thestate.Instead,heurgedthecreationofamassmovementfrombelowthatwouldexpropriatepropertyanddestroythestate,replacingtheircentralisedhierarchieswithfederationsofself-governingcommunitiesandworkplaces.Kropotkin’sinstantclassicincludeddiscussionsthemesandideashereturnedtorepeatedlyduringhisfivedecadesintheanarchistmovement.Unsurprisingly,WordsofaRebelwassoontranslatedintonumerouslanguages--includingItalian,Spanish,Bulgarian,Russian,andChinese--andreprintedtimeandtimeagain.ButdespiteitsinfluenceasKropotkin’sfirstanarchistwork,itwasthelasttobecompletelytranslatedintoEnglish.ThisisanewtranslationfromtheFrenchoriginalbyIainMcKayexceptforafewchapterspreviouslytranslatedbyNicolasWalter.Bothanarchistactivistsandwriters,theyarewellplacedtounderstandtheassumptionswithinandinfluencesonKropotkin’srevolutionaryjournalism.Itincludesalltheoriginal1885textalongwiththeprefacetothe1904Italianaswellastheprefaceandafterwardtothe1919Russianeditions.Inaddition,itincludesmanyarticlesonthelabourmovementwrittenbyKropotkinforLeRevolt矇whichshowhowheenvisionedgettingfromcriticismtoasocialrevolution.AlongwithacomprehensiveglossaryandanintroductionbyIainMcKayplacingthisworkwithinthehistoryofanarchismaswellasindicatingitsrelevancetoradicalsandrevolutionariestoday,thisisthedefinitiveeditionofananarchistclassic.
