Born into the comforts of the Russian aristocracy in 1852, Vera Figner as a child harbored the fairy-tale dream of one day becoming tsarina. By the age of thirty-two, however, Figner had become one of Russia's most vocal revolutionaries, a terrorist and member of the Executive Committee of the People's Will party, and a prisoner sentenced for life for her involvement in the assassination of Alexander II. In this classic memoir, Figner recounts her journey from aristocrat to revolutionary, candidly relating the experiences that shaped her ideas and provoked her to political action and violence. As she reflects on her own lifelong commitment to improving the lives of ordinary Russians, she reveals much about the concept, structure, and leadership behind the radical movement in late nineteenth-century Russia. In his incisive introduction to this edition, Richard Stites discusses the importance of the memoir as a personal testimony and provides background for understanding a courageous woman's role in the struggle for political change.

A New York Review Books Original Victor Serge is one of the great men of the 20th century —and one of its great writers too. He was an anarchist, an agitator, a revolutionary, an exile, a historian of his times, as well as a brilliant novelist, and in Memoirs of a Revolutionary he devotes all his passion and genius to describing this extraordinary—and exemplary—career. Serge tells of his upbringing among exiles and conspirators, of his involvement with the notorious Bonnot Gang and his years in prison, of his role in the Russian Revolution, and of the Revolution’s collapse into despotism and terror. Expelled from the Soviet Union, Serge went to Paris, where he evaded the KGB and the Nazis before fleeing to Mexico. Memoirs of a Revolutionary recounts a thrilling life on the front lines of history and includes vivid portraits not only of Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin but of countless other figures who struggled to remake the world. Peter Sedgwick’s fine translation of Memoirs of a Revolutionary was abridged when first published in 1963. This is the first edition in English to present the entirety of Serge’s book.

Introduction by George WoodcockThis precious work, which first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, was published in book form in 1899. Having delighted readers as varied as Leo Tolstoy and Lewis Mumford, Memoirs continues to be a classic in this literary genre.Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin (1842-1921) was born into the highest rank of the Russian aristocracy. This fascinating account of his dramatic conversion from prince to anarchist is more than an autobiography; it is an extraordinary portrait of the old Russia, both before and after the liberation of the serfs.Kropotkin was a remarkable writer in the Russian tradition, and this work stands as a non-fictional counterpart of the novels in which Turgenev and other great Russian writers portray the development of social conscience among the youth in autocratic society.Having renounced his title, Kropotkin pursued his work as a scientist and won international acclaim as a geographer as well as a radical. Memoirs is also a study of the early anarchist movement in Western Europe, in which Kropotkin played a part after his escape from a Russian prison - thereby earning a second imprisonment, this time in France.George Woodcock, one of Canada's most distinguished men of letters has written biographies of such monumental figures as Gandhi, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.Table of ContentsAN INTRODUCTION by George WoodcockPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITIONI. CHILDHOODII. THE CORPS OF PAGESIII. SIBERIAIV. ST. PETERSBURG - FIRST JOURNEY TO WESTERN EUROPEV. THE FORTRESS - THE ESCAPEVI. WESTERN EUROPE1989: 504 pages

This is the most extensive collection of Peter Kropotkin's writings available in English. Over half the selections have been translated for the first time or salvaged from long-out-of-print pamphlets and newspapers. Both an introduction to classic texts and a recontextualization of Kropotkin from saintly philosopher to dangerous revolutionary, Direct Struggle Against Capital includes a historical introduction, biographical sketch, glossary, bibliography, and index. Peter Kropotkin was one of anarchism's most famous thinkers. His classic works include The Conquest of Bread and Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. Iain McKay has edited An Anarchist FAQ (volumes one and two) and Property Is Theft: A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Anthology.

Peter Kropotkin begins his autobiographical Memoirs in his childhood, in a landholding family in Russia. During his adolescence, he notes the difference between the life of the servant class and that of the aristocracy. He relates the political efforts to end serfdom, and the push by reformers for more radical change, which runs against a reactionary response from the Russian rulers. Graduating from military school, Kropotkin chooses an assignment in Siberia, and goes on geological expeditions to explore the eastern regions of the Russian Empire. Along the way he develops relationships with common peasants and workers, and wishes for a better life for them. After coming back to St. Petersburg and attending university, he starts spending time with like-minded intellectuals and activists, before he is arrested and put into prison. He eventually escapes Russia and spends the next part of his life in western Europe, running newspapers, organizing meetings, and pushing forward his ideas on social reform. Kropotkin was an anarchist, and did not believe change could be achieved through political methods. The masses would have to rise up and take what they felt was rightfully theirs. And yet Kropotkin was more intellectual than activist. He believed in improving the life of the poor through education, and decentralized, voluntary organizations. The Memoirs were published in 1899, while he was still quite active, with the momentous events of the early twentieth century still to come. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

A nonviolent anarchist of the 19th century discusses his philosophy of collective action as well as life in the court of the Tsar, military service in Siberia, imprisonment, and escape.