Bash the Rich by Ian Bone

“The Jethros–a well tasty mob of old hippies from Exeter–are going up the West End to start trashing Oxford Street, waterfalls of glass cascading everywhere. The Jethros had some idea about crashing a load of cars together at the junction of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road and torching them but they’re talked out of it in case innocent bystanders get blown away. One of them mutters Emile Henri’s famous line “there are no innocents!” The Jethros line was either fight with us or get what’s coming to you. Oxford Street is duly trashed. All the out-of-towners act the same, forming little hit squads with their mates, coalescing, melting away and striking again. The cops are ill-prepared for the diversity of the actions and completely taken by surprise.”

After reading the June KSL Bulletin which included a review of Ian Bone’s memoir Bash the Rich: True Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK, I decided to pull the book from my shelf and start reading.

Bash the Rich is a lively read, covering seminal incidents in Ian’s anarchist life (there are very few personal details here), and Ian’s sense of humour seeps through on every page. On page 66, I knew that I was going to really enjoy this book:

“One of the best compliments I had in my Alarm-writing days was that I wrote just like I talked. Since every other word I use is ‘fucking’, to write without swearing would have been impossible. The swearing caused a lot of arguments - some people thought we’d be restricting our audience to youngsters or politicos or punks (this was 1977 by the way!) or men. I stuck firmly to the ‘let’s have lots of fucking swearing’ line. If you call a council leader a ‘wanker’ in print that was fine, but if you called the council leader a ‘fucking wanker’ that was even better. If you called the council leader a ‘FUCKING WANKER’ and stuck it on the front page, that was better still.”

After finishing the book, I felt as though I’d spent a few hours with Ian having a chat–him with a pint in one hand, and me listening as he recounted the story of his life from his birth in 1947 to where the book ends in 1985.

Ian’s father came from mining stock and would have been down the pits like everyone else if he hadn’t had the ‘lucky break’ of becoming a servant. Ian’s father rose from the dizzying heights of third footman to butler by the time Ian was born, and so he grew up in a succession of “big houses” as his parents passed through a series of employment situations as butler and housemaid. It was certainly this exposure to the lifestyles of the rich and famous that put Ian onto the path of Class War. A few pages are spent establishing Ian’s Class War roots as he explains the ‘tied cottage’ system and early exposure to instances of gratuitous selfishness on the part of his parents’ wealthy employers.

After discovering anarchism at 15, Ian later attended Swansea University and remained in Wales for 17 years. Producing leaflets, mingling with Welsh nationalists, anarcho-punks and members of the Angry Brigade, as well as attending marches, and selling papers in an ever-growing anarchist scene, Ian went on to co-produce the Swansea Solidarity paper with its emphasis on “encouraging workers on strike or facing redundancy to organize sit-ins and take over the running of their workplace and kick the bosses out.” Another highly successful venture Ian was involved in was the Dole Express–a paper geared towards the unemployed. And some of the results from this anarcho-agitation make for hilarious reading.

In 1977, Ian along with some like-minded comrades began producing Alarm: “an organ of organised class hatred.” The paper amassed stories of scandal and corruption in local politics, and I had a good laugh when I read that Welsh politico Sid ‘Vicious’ Jenkins when (finally) arrested on corruption charges shouted to a TV reporter on the scene who had a copy of Alarm in his hand: “I haven’t read it but it’s all untrue. It’s all the work of anarchists.”

In 1982, Ian moved to London, and he really shook up the established anarchist scene, noting “the twin pillars of English anarchism Freedom and Black Flag and their respective gurus Albert Meltzer and Vernon Richards. The labyrinthine feuding between the two stretching back over 30 years had been a major factor in rendering the English anarchist movement impotent.” The book’s implication is that the anarchist scene was–well more or less dead–and needed a swift kick in the bum: “Apart from trawling through the obscure anarcho-periodical section at Compendium and Housemans, Freedom Bookshop and 121 Railton Road were the anarchist bookshops where you might hope to pick up signs of any sentient life in the anarchist movement.” And with Ian Bone’s arrival in London, the anarchist movement certainly livened up, and by 1983, The Sunday People newspaper ran the headline stating that Ian was “unmasked… the evil man who preaches hate to children.” Ian’s response: ” ‘Evil man’ and ‘children’ have a kind of Gary Glitter feel about it rather than your Che Guevera ‘dangerous revolutionary’ kind of tag.’ “

With Ian’s move to London came the creation of Class War–a no-holds barred, confrontational tabloid style newspaper that was “pro-action and violence.” The book includes some of the Class War headlines, cartoons and articles. Ian’s description of the goals of Class War includes the following: “It would be big and tabloid brash, lots of short articles and graphics, no long boring shit. It would be fucking funny as fucking fuck. It would plagiarise and pinch like there was no yesterday.” I’ve never seen any of the Class War newspapers, so it was great to see these clips included in the memoir. Details here include: The rise and fall of Class War–the triumphs, the problems, and the arguments with other anarchists and anarchist groups that began to emerge over issues such as heterosexuality.

Ian describes the principles of Class War, the paper’s growing circulation, the mistakes made and its phenomenal successes. Also covered are the Class War Conferences, the riotous Stop the City action, the Bash the Rich march, and Class War solidarity with the striking miners. And through it all Ian unabashedly admits: “Our real political influence was the English mob and we intended to be the proud inheritors of that mob tradition stretching back to the Peasants’ Revolt but finding its first real form in the London mob of the civil war period.”

Irreverent, unapologetic and with flashes of witty wisdom (many points taken), Bash the Rich also includes some great lessons learned: “Delusional triumphalism has been refined to perfection by the SWP which keeps its members in a permanent state of retarded ejaculation by news of a cleaner’s strike in Barnoldswick, five papers sold in Rugby or a tide of global events interpreted by the leadership as proof of that their cogent analysis of capitalism has, yet again, been demonstrated correct by events.” Ian, if you read this, we need part II of your True-Life Confessions. To quote Ian: “Those were the days my friend. Oh yes, those were the days.”

Ian Bone just sold the rights to Bash The Rich for the whooping sum of 10 pounds to British filmmaker Greg Hall www.bashtherichfilm.wordpress.com  Can’t wait for that one….

For Ian’s blog and to read about what he is up to these days: www.ianbone.wordpress.com

To buy the book: www.akpress.org

KSL Bulletin June

June’s KSL bulletin (number 54, in case you’re interested) includes the following:

Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City 1880-1914 by Tom Goyens is reviewed by Ian Bone

City of Quartz by Mike Davis is reviewed by Paul Stott

Bash the Rich: True-Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK  by Ian Bone is reviewed by Benjamin Franks

The Making of the English Working Class by E.P. Thompson and Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global by Paul Mason are reviewed by John Patten

Fiction:
My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru and Johnny Come Home by Jake Arnott are both reviewed by Judge Mental

Thomas Pynchon’s gargantuan novel Against the Day  is reviewed by John Barker

The Poetics of Anarchy: David Edelshtat’s Revolutionary Poetry by Ori Kritz is reviewed by “JP”

Last but not least, the Bulletin includes a list of KSL’s latest pamphlets added to the ever-growing and impressive list of oldies but goodies.

For more information on subscribing contact www.katesharpleylibrary.net

As for me, I’m going to get Ian Bone’s book off my shelf and start reading….

Les Brigades du Tigre (2006)

“This dump looks like an anarchist hangout.”

I’ve become used to the overwhelmingly negative and inaccurate portrayals of anarchists in film and books, but Les Brigades du Tigre (The Tiger Brigades) is a first–well a first for me at least. This French film directed by Jerome and Francois Cornuau is ostensibly about the first motorised police force, and it portrays anarchist Jules Bonnot in a favorable but still wildly inaccurate light.

Somehow after reading Richard Parry’s account of The Bonnot Gang  I can’t help but think that if Bonnot could see this cinematic version of part of his life, he’d be really annoyed. But then again perhaps he’d have a good laugh. Well whatever Bonnot’s reaction would be to this glossy portrayal of the French Illegalist as some sort of latter day Robin Hood, the film still ignores the reality of what Bonnot and his fellow anarchists were all about.

Here’s the plot:

Jules Bonnot (Jacques Gamblin) and a group of fellow anarchists knock off a bank delivery showering money in the streets while they make off with a secret coded ledger. This ledger assumes vast importance, and while the first mobile police brigade searches for Bonnot, something just doesn’t add up for Commissaire Valentin (Clovis Cornillac). Valentin has a soft spot for anarchists noting that they “aren’t like crooks. They’re quiet, sober, don’t beat women.” Valentin and a handful of other policemen become involved in the hunt for Bonnot, and they soon become aware that there’s skullduggery afoot.

The film uses the real-life character of Bonnot and some of his actions and then spins the facts sending the truth off the deep end. For example, scenes depict the police surrounding Bonnot in a farmhouse at Choisy-le-Roi. While this much is true, the film depicts Bonnot as killed when the police dynamite and storm the building. In reality, he was still barely alive but shot to death by police at the scene. The film also depicts Bonnot’s body being carried out with honour–ceremonial style, shoulder high when the reality was that the mob gathered at the site wanted to lynch Bonnot.

With Bonnot out of the picture (literally) the film concentrates on the policemen, and they become the heroes of the piece. There are a few real names here: Octave Garnier (Marc Robert) and Raymond Callemin (Pierre Berriau) and Jaures (Andre Marcon). Thrown into the blend is a Russian anarchist who shoots up with narcotics, and a Russian princess (Diane Kruger) who’s an anarchist on the side and Bonnot’s lover whenever she gets a chance.

Of course, it’s all extremely fanciful with its swordplay, crazed Russians, acid-throwing and torture thrown in for good measure. I had a good laugh at the way anarchists fold and yield information to Valentin whenever he asks a question. But overall I was puzzled more than anything else by the film’s portrayal of Bonnot. Author Richard Parry makes the point that given the social conditions of the times many of the French working class identified with Bonnot and his Illegalist decision to seize what he wanted. But the film seems to feel very comfortable creating degrees of French heroes as opposed to the Russian Nasties. Perhaps this explains why Bonnot is depicted as someone who wants to ‘right’ society by exposing corruption. Ultimately, however, the Russians are the villains of the piece with the French bureaucrats and bankers right next to them.

This film is an adaptation of a popular French television series that aired in the 70s.

The Bonnot Gang by Richard Parry

“To counter the threat of armed working class bandits, many bourgeois began to arm themselves; from dawn to dusk they queued up to buy guns and learn how to use them, while car-owners, feeling particularly threatened, offered their vehicles to the police until such time as the bandits were caught. Cars were not yet widespread, and the idea that workers could not only have access to them, but make this particular use of them was very worrying.”

The Bonnot Gang: The Story of the French Illegalists by Richard Parry is an excellent, highly detailed account of the notorious French anarchist gang–”auto-bandits” who were the first group to use getaway cars during the course of robberies.

Don’t even think about skipping the preface to the book because this is an essential part in understanding how the members of the so-called Bonnot Gang were a symptom of the times. The term ‘Bonnot Gang’ by the way, was the name given by the French press to a loosely connected group of French anarchists–some were friends and some only had the barest acquaintance with the others. The author points out that they “were not a close-knit criminal band in the classical style, but rather a union of egoists associated for a common purpose.”

Tracing the ideas and influence of Max Stirner and his book The Ego and Its Own, Parry credits Stirner as a powerful influence on anarchist-individualism and spends the marvelous first chapter describing the anarchist scene in France and the growth of anarchist-individualism. Following the debacle of the 1871 Paris Commune, the French government cracked down, and with “revolutionary organizations outlawed, and all forms of working class political activity banned, anarchists and trade-unionists were forced to operate in ways that were clandestine and outrightly illegal.” But in spite of this (or perhaps because of this), by the 1880s “there were an estimated forty anarchist groups in France with two thousand five hundred active members.”

The bitter aftermath of the Paris Commune “left a rich legacy of class-hatred” and Parry explains, “all anarchist activity and propaganda was centered on the class struggle which was especially bitter and violent up to the mid 1890s.” Since these were active times, a plethora of newspapers sprang up, and a number of anarchist groups emerged. One of the most prominent papers to emerge was L’Anarchie–considered the mouthpiece of anarchist-individualism–the paper “positively promoted crime and the theory of illegalism.” Co-founded in 1905 by Libertad, the paper’s position was that “there were not two opposed classes, bourgeois and proletarian, but only individuals.” Libertad seems to be a rather explosive character who quarreled with Syndicalists and was largely unwelcome–except in his own circle, and even then he managed to alienate friends and lovers.

Parry explains how Illegalism grew out of anarchist-individualism and points out that “almost all the Illegalists who were associated with the Bonnot Gang were born in the late 1880s or early 90s.” During this period, Parry argues, “the anarchist desire for the abolition of the state was translated onto an immediate practical level through individual acts of assassination and bombing.” Furthermore the idea of expropriation was “reduced to individual acts of ‘re-appropriation’ through the theory of La Reprise Individuelle.” Parry stresses the point that Illegalism differed from La Reprise Individuelle as the “illegalists stole not simply for the advancement of the cause, but for their own advancement.” And it was during these times that some infamous French anarchist criminals existed: Clement Duval, Marius Jacob and Ravachol. There’s a brief overview of their careers included.

Gangs began to emerge, and proceeds from burglaries and thefts were donated to the Cause, and naturally some donated more than others. Meanwhile an intellectual argument raged between anarchists regarding Illegalism and its moral justification, and eventually a split formed. While Illegalists argued that so-called “honest citizens, believers in the State and Authority” were part of the problem, others argued against Illegalism and the use of violence and force against ordinary citizens. Again Parry goes into some detail about this split–those pro and those con Illegalism, the major proponents and detractors, and their arguments for their beliefs.

There’s a clear sense of the social pressures of the time that helped create Illegalism. With mandatory military service, there were thousands of deserters roaming around France, unable to work, and even for those who could find work, often an eighteen-hour day of the most horrendous working conditions barely managed to put food on the table. (According to the book, in the early 1900s, there were approximately 70,000 deserters and draft dodgers.) One of the gang members, anarchist and draft dodger Octave Garnier was trying to make a living at age 13, but turned to crime. Working a “sixteen or eighteen hour day, seven days a week” on forged documents barely allowed survival. Garnier became increasingly disillusioned and frustrated with his situation and gradually came to loathe the system. Into this difficult social environment, Illegalism was born, and the Bonnot Gang became a major part of it.

Parry goes into significant detail describing the members of the gang–their relationships, their teetotalism and vegetarianism. The book details the “legendary” violent crimes the Bonnot Gang committed, the subsequent hysteria that swept through France, how the gang members were caught, the trials, executions and exiles. As the net tightens on the Bonnot Gang, there’s the sense that this is only going to go one way, and certainly most of the Bonnot Gang exited this life as spectacularly as they lived it. There’s quite an extensive list of characters, so it’s advisable to take notes. You may need them.

It always seems a little unfortunate when anarchists fight amongst themselves, and yet at the same time, criticism of anarchists by other anarchists is invaluable. The aftermath of the Bonnot Gang left many anarchists scrambling to explain their philosophical positions on Illegalism. Parry goes into some depth on the sticky role Victor Serge (Victor Kibalchich) played in the trial. While as the editor of L’Anarchie, Serge promoted Illegalism, he backtracked and waffled during the trial and later called Illegalism a form of “collective suicide.” Other anarchists at the time expressed the notion that the Bonnot Gang went off the deep end. Some felt that Illegalists were not anarchists at all but were “pseudo-anarchists who dishonour the anarchist ideal” and others resented the post-Bonnot Gang crackdown on the anarchist community. The story of the Bonnot Gang is an integral part of anarchist history and it’s a story that raises some intriguing questions and deserves attention. But part from all that, the book is an excellent read.

The book includes a bibliography, index and many black and white photos.

189 pages
Rebel Press

Pedalphiles (2000)

“You have to have a fairly exacting standard in order to be taken seriously” (SCAB collective member Michael).

The documentary Pedalphiles is the background story of SCAB (Skids Creating Apocalyptic Bicycles). SCAB is (was) a Wisconsin-based collective of bicycle enthusiasts whose mission was to promote the use of the bicycle as a “sustainable human-powered” and “viable alternative” to the automobile. Using scavenged bicycle parts, SCAB members created outlandish, ingenious bicycles and then infiltrated mainstream events, such as “Bike to Work Week” (AKA Middle Class Cop-Out Week). But apart from infiltration–with its goal of getting people to look at alternatives to fancy $2,000 bikes, SCAB just had a good time riding the streets of Wisconsin, developing new designs and passing out the word.

The film interviews SCAB collective members, and through these interviews the film explores the formation and growth of the group. Each of its members added their own unique talents, and this is clearly what made it work. Amanda explains, for example, how her welding skills helped the bike-making process. Collective members discuss and display some of their fantastic designs–the Preying Mantis, the Ghetto Way, the Pedal-Phile, the Huffy Nightmare, and…how could I forget…The Anal Intruder.

DVD extras include: Bike photos, and a Where Are They Now segment. This follow-up segment, filmed in 2005, 5-6 years after the original footage, is an essential part of the story. While SCAB is now a thing of the past, in individual interviews collective members all note the significance of SCAB in their lives. In spite of the fact that the collective members have taken different paths, some still maintain relationships, and some are still into bikes.

This energetic, and ultimately optimistic film from Brian Standing takes a fascinating look at how a group of young people with a range of talents and very little money put their beliefs into Direct Action. “Circumventing the whole buy-sale system” SCAB led by example. I am not much of a bike rider, I’ll admit, but after watching the film (which I thoroughly enjoyed, by the way) I started thinking that perhaps I need to break out my bike and start applying some pedal power in my life. A fair number of us realise that our current oil-dependent lifestyle will shortly come a cropper, and we all need to be prepared for that eventuality plus minimize our consumption for the health of the planet.

After the film concluded, I found myself mulling over the lives of these six very talented, creative people. I liked their decision to DO something about their beliefs, and I liked their positive approach. SCAB may well be a thing of the past, but I prefer to think of it as a beginning–not only for SCAB collective members, but also as a beginning for inspiration for those watching the film. Unfortunately, some of us are not lucky enough to live in a community with like-minded people, and so for us loners, a collective is not possible. And that makes the challenge for Direct Action a little different.

To quote collective member Tyson:
“I don’t know if I can even hope for a Utopian world at this point, just something better. And I think that’s just whatever we do in the time that we have.”

Pedalphiles is available at: www.prolefeedstudios.com

Emilio Canzi: an Anarchist Partisan in Italy and Spain by Paolo Finzi and others

“Ah, Canzi never made a move without his dog.”

Emilio Canzi: an Anarchist Partisan in Italy and Spain by Paolo Finzi (and others) is a 50-page pamphlet from Kate Sharpley Library. The pamphlet is one of an ongoing series of publications from KSL, and as with all of KSL’s publications, it’s very reasonably priced. Let’s face it, the big commercial publishing houses aren’t going to publish books on slices of anarchist history, so it’s great that KSL is here to do the job. KSL survives on donations, so consider sending a donation (money or anarchist material) their way.

The pamphlet includes:
Piacenza and Back by Claudio Silingardi
Death to Death: Emilio Canzi and the Arditi de Popolo in Piacenza
The Epic of One Libertarian Antifacist by Orazio Gobbi
Tragic Barcelona by Ivano Tagliaferri
Way up in the Apennines by Franco Sprega
Isabella’s Story
Poor Devil: Canzi the anarchist and Don Borea
A founding father of the resistance: Orazio Gobbi interviews historian Mirco Dondi
With a Rock for a Pillow-The Comandante Muro ANPI Youth Committee, Piacenza
A Very Humane Person by Renato Cravedi
The Christian Democrat, the Communist and the Anarchists by Italo Londei
Canzi’s Epitaph (from his tombstone)
The Anarchists vs. the fascists by Massimo Ortalli

Canzi was born in 1893 and died in 1945. During his lifetime he fought in WWI, joined the anarchist movement, fought against the fascists in Italy and also fought against fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He was sent to concentration camps in Hinzert, Germany and Arezzo. When he managed to escape from Arezzo in 1943, he went to the mountains in Peli di Coli and established the “province’s first partisan unit.” Canzi became “commander of the XIII Zone” and this became a controversial post. Communists were not comfortable with Canzi’s role and sought to overthrow him. Ironically, in this war against fascism, history repeated itself as Canzi had also faced Stalinist hostility and betrayal in Spain.

The assortment of essays crosses over on some information (the dates, major incidents, etc), but each essay offers a unique view of Canzi. One essay, for example, mentions that Canzi was always accompanied by a dog, and the dog’s keen sense of hearing and smell always knew when those fascists were sneaking close by. Another essay details the murders of several Italian anarchists in Barcelona. There’s the sense here that Canzi became an old hand at fighting the fascists, but he also was well aware that communists were quite ready to stab him in the back–in spite of the fact that they supposedly shared a common (fascist) enemy.

The pamphlet includes a contents page, a rather difficult to read map, a glossary and an extremely helpful list of main characters.

http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net

Misfit: A Revolutionary Life by Captain Jack White

Misfit is the memoir of anarchist Captain Jack White covering the years 1899 to May 1916–just after the Easter Rebellion. White (1879-1946) begins his memoirs when he was stationed in South Africa with the British Army during the Boer War. As one of the 1st Gordon Highlanders, he recounts the Battle of Magerfontein.

After leaving the army, White was restless. Heavily influenced by Tolstoy, he traveled to Canada, and here he cast around, worked various jobs, and to coin a cliché, tried to ‘find himself.’ Eventually, however, disillusioned, White states “I had bitten deeper than Tolstoy, because I had tried him out as he had never tried himself.” Subsequently White was involved in the Labour movement, became a Socialist and formed the Irish Citizen Army.

The book’s title refers to Captain White’s often-misunderstood, unwelcome role. He was not a member of the working classes–yet joined their ranks. He joined the Catholics supporting home rule for Ireland–yet he was an Anglo-Irish protestant. Later in WWI, he volunteered as an ambulance driver on the front lines, but he was regarded with suspicion because of his involvement in the Irish political scene.

White apparently wrote a sequel to Misfit, which was either destroyed or lost. This is a great shame as the book concludes while White is still a relatively young man. I’m not sure that White and I would have got along had we ever crossed paths. There’s an arrogance that comes through these pages. The first part of the book establishes White as an officer in the British Army, and at one point he orders a public caning for one of the natives. He expresses shame at his actions and also concludes that being in the Army obviously wasn’t good for him. I’ll agree with that, but White seems to have retained his military air–at least for the course of the book.

At one point, he negotiates with Birrell, a British official whose job it was to allocate funds to “the Dublin Local Government Board for the relief of stress.” Previously, a woman named Harrison, a Dubliner contacted Birrell for the release of these much-needed funds. She’d got nowhere with Birrell, whereas White and Birrell hit it off immediately. White seems to chortle with superiority over the fact that he can negotiate with this man while an Irish woman cannot. Well…yes, the official obviously recognized White as one of his own kind; plus Miss Harrison was a woman. Birrell’s stated preference for White is not necessarily a compliment to White’s diplomatic skills, but more a nod to class, race and gender.

At the same time, there are bits of humor in these pages. At one point, White meets Arthur Voysey, the son of theist Charles Voysey, and White notes Arthur Voysey’s move to Tahiti with the comment: “I feel sure he is under a banana tree in a loincloth.”

I also found White annoyingly oblique and obscure when it came to discussing his personal life. It’s not mandatory to discuss one’s personal/private life in a memoir, but since he brought it up, it would have been nice if he had been a bit clearer. His vagueness on the subject of his wife is a bit odd. Here’s an example:

“Thus a pair like us, when tired of hand-to-hand fighting, can go on fighting through the warring worlds with which our respective types have become aligned. What is more, there is some hope of final decision, if not final peace. What’s that game they play on board ship crossing the line; two combatants sitting on a spar over a sail-path and hammering at each other with bolsters till one of them falls in-sometimes both. Suppose they sat on different spars, and nothing on earth would stop them hammering till the spar of one of them broke. Then if they loved each other, for all the hammering, the survivor would pick the sparless one out. There is a picture of my marriage given in advance. I am now to get off the spar on which we sat together and get on another.”

Also, I didn’t particularly care for White’s heavily symbolic writing style:
“The threads of intelligence must be interwoven with the threads of being; that is to say, that on some needle, which is neither, abstract neither intellect nor intelligent being, the two stitches must be picked up and combined. That needle is faith, keen-pointed enough to pick up stitch after stitch in their right order, strong enough to bear the weight of woolly substance always tending to break off and rip up.”

That’s just an excerpt, but it should give you an idea of White’s writing style. He doesn’t do this for the entire book, but there are long passages of this sort of thing. The book ends abruptly, and there seems to be much ahead for Captain White (he later fought with the CNT militia in Spain).  Speeches made by White and articles he wrote are included at the end of the book along with some additional biographical information.
Livewire Publications
259 pages

Noam Chomsky: Imperial Grand Strategy

“Only a stable, prolonged U.S troop presence and a weak Iraqi army will allow us to nurture democracy.” (Wolfowitz)

Noam Chomsky is back, and he’s in fine form in all three sections of this DVD. In Part I, Chomsky delivers a lecture at the University of Manchester on 22 May 2004. The approximately 140 minute lecture Imperial Grand Strategy focuses on the war in Iraq, and argues that the U.S occupation there is part of an overall strategy and doctrine. Chomsky stresses that the current Bush administration is not the originator of the idea of the right to use pre-emptive force to “ensure access to markets and resources,” and he traces the doctrine back to 1941. Chomsky examines Clinton’s interpretation of the doctrine, as well as Kissinger’s acknowledgment that while the doctrine was theoretically fine, it certainly shouldn’t be “universalized”–in other words, dominance through military power should not extended as a ‘right’ to all countries.

Chomsky also argues that the current war in Iraq–which ostensibly was supposed to stop or at least corral terrorism–has served to acerbate terrorism, and quotes John Schlesinger’s observation that while 9-11 created a “global wave of sympathy” for America, the invasion of Iraq created “a wave of hatred.” Indeed, Chomsky argues, recruitment for terrorism has increased, and apparently the Iraq War has served as a marvelous recruitment opportunity for al-Qaeda.

So what is this “war on terror” all about then if it doesn’t stop or squash terrorism? Well Chomksy has plenty of answers to that question–”the point is controlling the resources,” he argues, and it’s a “demonstration” of the Imperial Grand Strategy. Chomsky backs this argument up by examining America’s often erratic, illogical treatment of terrorism–the bizarre and continued focus on Cuba (4 people track the financial resources of al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, yet 21 are assigned to Cuba, for goodness sake!).

This is an intense lecture packed with information, and Chomsky also covers “the chain of violence” that led from the Israeli assassination of Yassin straight to the murder of 4 contractors in Fallujah, and onto the U.S assault on Fallujah. He also covers the arrest of protesting Iraqi labor union leaders, and Bush’s Messianic Vision to bring ‘democracy’ to Iraq. Democracy is a splendid noble word, but it evidently has been hijacked to mean something else. But then again, I suppose it might be more difficult to get Americans to swallow a war that was spreading “imperialism in the Middle East.”

The second lecture The Assault of Freedom and Democracy was delivered December 3, 2003 at Merrimack College and lasts for about an hour. Chomsky examines ‘the assault’ which he argues is conducted by Bush Administration reactionaries. He stresses that policies created by this administration (Patriot Act I and II) must be kept in perspective by remembering what other societies face, and he also discusses some of the less pleasant U.S domestic policies enacted in the past–such as the nefarious COINTELPRO. Chomsky again dissects inconsistent U.S. policies on terrorism noting that self-admitted terrorist Orlando Bosch was given a presidential pardon and allowed to live in the U.S. Also America doesn’t seem to have a problem with the undemocratic, despotic ruler of Uzbekistan who boils his enemies alive–something apparently a British ambassador recently objected to and was recalled for.

The third section on the DVD Questions about Anarchism is an hour-long informal interview held between Chomsky and Barry Pateman and recorded on Feb 17, 2004. With Pateman posing questions, Chomsky offers his views on a range of issues such as primitivism, the control of attitude and opinion, class politics, violence, and modes of peaceful change. This is an extremely enlightening interview, and Chomsky’s statements are startlingly thought provoking. He remains–in spite of current, bleak global events–guardedly optimistic about the future, and as always, his lectures are delivered with his characteristic dash of dry humour.

The Walsall Anarchists: Trapped by the Police-The Truth About the Walsall Plot by David Nicoll

“One would have thought that the address of a gentleman who has repeatedly incited people to use dynamite, who supplied a young boy with the materials for explosives, and got up a conspiracy for which men have been sentenced to a long term of penal servitude would be of consequence to the police.”

The 26-page pamphlet The Walsall Anarchists: Trapped by the Police –The Truth About the Walsall Plot is written by anarchist David Nicoll and published by the Kate Sharpley Library. This is just one of the pamphlets Nicoll wrote regarding the Walsall Anarchists–an infamous case involving an agent provocateur that took place in late 19th century London.

Nicoll relates how a man named Auguste Coulon arrived in London in 1890 and proceeded to infiltrate anarchist circles. The details of Coulon’s past are a bit vague, and he had no visible means of support. Right from the start, he claimed to be an anarchist and appeared to have an obsession with dynamite. After he became an assistant to Louise Michel, Coulon seemed to possess appropriate anarchist/revolutionary credentials, and members of various anarchist groups trusted him.

Coulon was constantly writing in anarchist journals about “good old dynamite” and when he wasn’t writing about it, he was urging its use in the manufacture of bombs. Nicoll became so disgusted over Coulon’s “celebrating the blowing up of a cow in Belgium as a great and revolutionary act” that a breach erupted between the two men. This was probably a lucky thing for Nicoll. Shortly afterwards, the so-called ‘Walsall conspiracy’ led to the arrests and imprisonments of four anarchists for various activities. Curiously, Coulon was never arrested. In fact, Coulon seemed amazingly affluent after the trial and somehow even managed to maintain two households.

This is a short and simple tale of the classic agent provocateur in action. There were ample warning signs of Coulon’s true intentions: His rabid enthusiasm for dynamite, his constant harping on the need for violence, and the fact that he mysteriously had the means to carry on these activities. Why didn’t people sniff out Coulon’s nefarious intentions? Probably because the four anarchists who were eventually jailed (Deakin, Charles, Cailes and Batolla) labored under the misconception that Coulon was as deeply involved as they were. Little did they realize that as a paid police informant, Coulon led the anarchists down the garden path–all the way to jail–while he was completely free from prosecution and amply rewarded for his services.

This pamphlet is available from our very own Kate Sharpley Library.

Granny Made Me an Anarchist: General Franco, the Angry Brigade and Me by Stuart Christie

“Anarchists don’t seek political power, only moral authority. Nor do they plot to bring down democratic governments through aimless acts of malicious, visceral hatred; but they do seek to sideline them as much as possible by empowering people through education, example, and by fashioning events wherever possible to promote the general principles of mutual aid and self-management.”

In the lively memoir, Granny Made Me an Anarchist: General Franco, The Angry Brigade and Me, author Stuart Christie deftly blends his intensely personal story against the background of the explosive politics and shifting culture of Britain in the 60s and 70s. Christie was born and raised in Scotland and heavily influenced by the female figures in his life–including his indomitable grandmother. After a brief flirtation with socialism, Christie landed squarely into anarchism, and as a teenager in the 60s, Christie was heavily involved in the anti-nuclear movement and in protests against the Vietnam War.

Moving to London, Christie met members of the Iberian Federation of Libertarian Group and soon became part of a plot to kill Franco. The plot was ill conceived, and non-Spanish speaking Christie–who acted as a courier transporting explosives–was apparently dogged the minute he entered Spain. The fact that Christie never got within arm’s length of his mission to hand over the explosives did not stop the Spanish courts from sentencing the 18 year old “kilted assassin” to twenty years in a Spanish prison. But Christie, who could have received the sentence of public garroting–a grisly practice still prevalent under Franco’s rule–was at least alive.

Christie recounts the trial, and while it’s a deadly serious situation with the possibility of a barbaric execution, nonetheless, Christie never loses his sense of humor. As the highly ceremonial trial conducted entirely in Spanish begins to assume surreal qualities, Christie asks the question: “How in the name of the wee man had I ended up here?”

Christie spent several years in prison, and during this time he learned Spanish and even managed to take his A-levels. When conditions inside prison improved, he felt like a “rare animal in a zoo conservation project.” Thanks in part to international political undercurrents and also increased tourism to Spain, Christie was released. He returned to a media circus in Britain, and refusing to be anyone’s pet monkey, he managed, instead, to alienate most of the press. After the media frenzy died down, and the exploitation of the tacky headlines ended, Christie settled down to a job converting coal gas appliances to North Sea gas. Christie’s time in jail served only to strengthen his anarchist beliefs. He maintained friendships with anarchists both in Britain and abroad–and for rather obvious reasons “revived” the Anarchist Black Cross–a “prisoner support organization” that originated in tsarist Russia in the late 1800s. But the story doesn’t end there….

With sharp insight, and biting commentary, Christie describes a troubled Britain in the late 60s and 70s–fraught with labor problems, social discontent, the horrifying revelations of My Lai, the tawdriness of the Profumo Affair, the French riots of 68, the actions of the First of May Group, and even details a bizarre plot organized by publisher Cecil King, Lord Mountbatten, and various Ministry of Defense officials to overthrow British Prime Minister Harold Wilson whose socialist tendencies were interpreted as a communist plot. And it is in this turmoil that the mysterious Angry Brigade emerged and began a bombing campaign targeting embassies, government buildings, and various Tory members of the British government.

Christie–already ludicrously labeled by the press as “Britain’s Number Two Anarchist” is–naturally–on the ‘watch list’ as a troublemaker, and he’s eventually hauled in on conspiracy charges in the Angry Brigade trial of the “Stoke Newington Eight.” Christie documents the published communiqués from the Angry Brigade–along with his analysis of their actions (he describes the Angry Brigade as libertarian socialist). The trial proves to be an infamous landmark in judicial history for many reasons. Christie describes the trial, and further jail time, but at least he was able to compare British jails to Spanish jails and emerge ‘not guilty.’

Christie, who founded Cienfuegos Press with Albert Meltzer, includes several philosophical comments on issues such as violence, and while he argues that as for the “anarchist position on violence all I can say is there is none,” he also notes: “One of the main planks of anarchism is the removal of violence and coercion from all human relations.” Emphasizing that “violence and direct action are techniques, not an ideology, or philosophy” he argues that the decision to use violence as a tool is fraught with problems: “Pursing moral and ethical objectives by violent means can be a very fine and dangerous line to walk.” And he notes that a “crippled conscience is as irretrievable as a lost life.” Rife with witty, sharp observations, Christie always maintains a sensitive, self-critical eye and analyzes his thought processes in every step he takes. In spite of the dire situations he finds himself in, he never loses his keen sense of humor. For example, right after he’s arrested in Spain, he notes that his copy of Candide is confiscated while he’s allowed to keep de Sade’s Justine. That gave me a good laugh. Granny Made Me an Anarchist is a marvelously well-written roller coaster ride through wild times, and for those of us who couldn’t be there, this book is the next best thing.

AK Press 10/07