Top 3-5 Anarchist Books?

EJO

EJO

New member
Hey there! I'm pretty new to learning about this political philosophy. So far, I've read through about half of The Conquest of Bread. I'm wondering if there's any consensus on which anarchists texts are most important/first reads. I know anarchism played a pretty significant role in workers' rights and some other stuff about the Paris commune, but I'd like to be more informed.
 
Here are some of my favorites:
  1. Living my life by Emma Goldman;
  2. ABCs of anarchy by her BF Alexander Berkman;
  3. Bakunin on anarchism (edited by Sam Dolgoff);
  4. The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years 1868-1936 by Murray Bookchin;
  5. We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World by Melvyn Dubofsky.
 
Older Than Dirt said:
Here are some of my favorites:
  1. Living my life by Emma Goldman;
  2. ABCs of anarchy by her BF Alexander Berkman;
  3. Bakunin on anarchism (edited by Sam Dolgoff);
  4. The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years 1868-1936 by Murray Bookchin;
  5. We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World by Melvyn Dubofsky.
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Thanks! I'll start out with the Emma Goldman one. Her life story looks pretty interesting.
 
A very good book. The Penguin Classics is the one to get if there are other editions.

I hope you get some more answers, especially if anyone can recommend anything written in the last 20-30 years. My list obviously skews pretty early 20th century.

There are of course the Crimethinc kids, but i've never been super-impressed with their work. Gods bless 'em though for doing it.
 
These might not be first reads but u might like:

Temporary Autonomous Zones by Hakim Bey

Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler is a classic novel series if your into rad doomy apocalyptic stuff. Definitely an intro into visionary fiction which has a lot of anarchist elements/crossover

Sabate: Guerrilla Extraordinaire by Antonio Tellez is like a wild anarchist action novel but it's actually just a biography and gives good insight into the spanish civil war and that whole era of anarchy

Open veins of Latin america by Eduardo Galeano if your looking for a latin american perspective

The Coming Insurrection by Comite Invisible is too dense for me but it's def considered a classic in some circles
 
I'm in the less-is-more crowd when it comes to anarchy lit. Zines seem more "boots on the ground" to me, offering less theoretical knowledge. I've always liked the format because it's more accessible to the lay person - written from the perspective of experience instead of extrapolation and they are cheap/free to produce and have grassroots distribution. If there's one I haven't read I print a few copies at work and deposit them in the pop-up free library box in front of my local middle school.

I like this one the best...

...but azinelibrary.org has some for every niche. The Ally-Industrial Complex and Direct Action are two topics I'm interested in, for example.

If you can afford to support anarchist bookstores do that first. Great recommendations above. After you target your concerns, scour the zines
 
Here are some places to get started reading, with the wikipedia pages about each author, these are the classics of anarchism, the Berkman book is more or less the same text as The ABCs of anarchism that i mentioned above:







See also

 
A few of my favourites:
Voltairine de Cleyre - Crime and Punishment
Daniel Guerin - No Gods, No Masters
Emma Goldman - Anarchism and Other Essays
Comité Invisible - The Coming Insurrection
Peter Kropotkin - Mutual Aid
 
Fight Club.
Ok, maybe that was a joke, but actually it did open my eyes to the ideas of forming autonomous and underground groups, and fighting the corporate / monetary system, back when I was 14. It was the book / movie that set me off on my ideological quest, so it will always have a special place in my head (and maybe heart, too).

Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Maybe not strictly "anarchist", but definitely within the same radical organizing mindset. Very difficult to "un-learn" what the system of "schooling" has deeply rooted into our brains, but i found it was essential in my mental quest not only to become a more radical teacher (or "guide"), but also in my worldview, personal relationships with fellow oppressed, and dealing with (and subverting) the authority of institutions.
 
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