A review of Victor Serge’s biography of Trotsky showing its limitations and revisionism. It shows that Serge’s account, like Trotskyist accounts in general, is at odds with what actually happened in Russia and presents an at times wishful thinking account of Trotsky’s actual ideas and activities. It appeared in Anarcho-Syndicalist Review No. 79 (Spring 2020)
(more…)Month: November 2025
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Review: Anarchists Never Surrender by Victor Serge
A review of a collection of new translations by Victor Serge (1890-1947) which cover his individualist-anarchist and Bolshevik periods. It shows why Serge is not someone radicals today should seek to imitate, as his libertarian-Marxist period was too little, too late. It appeared in Anarcho-Syndicalist Review No. 74 (Summer 2018)
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Victor Serge: The Worst of the Anarchists
A review of various books by or about Victor Serge, the individualist-anarchist who turned Bolshevik. It discusses how he turned from an elitist individualist to an elitist Leninist and why his Memoirs, while an interesting book, is unreliable when it comes to his actual views between 1919 and 1929. While routinely presented by Leninists as amongst the “best of the Anarchists” (and so should be followed into Bolshevism), in reality he was amongst the worst. It was originally written for Anarchist Studies Vol. 22 No. 2 (Autumn 2014) and this, full, version appeared in Anarcho-Syndicalist Review No. 61 (Winter 2014)
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Anarchism and the General Strike
An account of the General Strike in Anarchism as expressed in both theory and practice as well as the interaction between the two. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 3. No. 1 (Spring 2023) and long with articles by leading anarchists on both the theory and the practice of the General Strike from 1873 to 1935.
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Black Flag: Anarchist Review Autumn 2023 issue now out
The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:
The focus of this issue is Trotsky’s limited opposition to developments in the USSR which resulted in the rise of Stalinism. This is usually dated to his 1923 “New Course” articles but most Trotskyist accounts of his opposition are inaccurate, ignoring his advocacy of party dictatorship and lack of concern over economic democracy. We rectify this by discussing his actual ideas rather than the wished for ones of his followers. Camillo Berneri’s comment remains true;
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