A write up of a talk given in Glasgow in May 2022 on the life and ideas of Peter Kropotkin to mark the anniversary of his birth. As usual, this write-up reflects what I wanted to say rather than what was actually said but it is close enough.
(more…)Category: Russian Revolution
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Review: Romancing the revolution
A review of an interesting book on the reaction to the Russian Revolution within the British left at the time. It shows how many on the left went from supporting the revolution due to its increase in democracy to defeating the Bolshevik dictatorship in a few years. It appeared in Anarcho-Syndicalist Review No. 73 (Spring 2018)
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Review: The Bolsheviks in Power
Review of a 2007 book on the first year of Bolshevik power. Documents the Bolshevik assault on soviet democracy and the opposition. It appeared in Black Flag
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In Defence of the Truth
A critique of a lengthy defence of the Bolsheviks by a (then) leading member of the British SWP in International Socialism (Autumn 1991). It shows how references on the Makhnovists and the Kronstadt revolt are misused and distorted to defend the Bolshevik regime. In short, a classic example of the Trotskyist school of falsification.
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Fight Fibs! Fight Inventions!
Two letters sent to the RCG’s paper Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! in response to a disgraceful review of an anarchist pamphlet and their lies on the Makhnovist movement. Neither was published, unsurprisingly.
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