KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 80, October 2014 has just been posted on our site. You can get to the contents here http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/fn30cz or read the full pdf here http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/m6406g This issue contains: Emma Goldman in Saint Louis by “an old hand from the furniture removal trade” http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/2bvr6d Antonia Fontanillas Borrás (1917-2014) by Librepensador Acrata http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/547f75 Albert Meltzer quotes http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/1g1ksd José Ignacio Martín-Artajo Saracho – b 1932, Madrid; d 14 April 2005, Gerona – Anarchist, diplomat, blasphemer, poet and man of letters by Stuart Christie http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/hdr94j Library News (October 2014) http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/0gb6hd

New publication: Los Maños : the lads from Aragon ; the story of an anti-Franco action group The Kate Sharpley Library collective are pleased to announce the publication of another study of the anarchist resistance to Franco's dictatorship. Mariano Aguayo Morán (1922-1994) was one of the members of the ‘Los Maños’ group. This group of friends from Zaragoza joined together to fight the Francoist regime in the optimistic days after the second world war. Originally active with the Socialist Youth, they soon joined the anarchist resistance alongside militants like Francisco ‘Quico’ Sabaté and José Lluís Facerías. Betrayed by one of the group members, Wenceslao Jiménez Orive was seriously wounded in a police ambush in Barcelona on 9 January 1950. Rather than be captured, he took cyanide. Simón Gracia Fleringán, Plácido Ortiz Gratal and Victoriano Muñoz Treserras were arrested the same day, and executed on 24 December 1950. These interviews throw light not only on the story of the ‘Los Maños’ group, but the nature, motivations and difficulties of the anarchist resistance to Francoism. Now available from the Kate Sharpley Library in the UK (North American copies available soon). See: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/rn8r13 ISBN 9781873605318, £3 This translation first published as an ebook by Christiebooks

The Tumultuous Last Months of the Anarcho-syndicalist Peter Rybin The anarcho-syndicalist Peter Rybin took part in the revolutionary labour movements of Russia, Ukraine, and the United States and played an important role in the later stages of the Makhnovist movement. Yet he has remained a shadowy figure, known mainly through a brief biogaphical sketch in Peter Arshinov’s history. The recent discovery of Rybin’s Ukrainian Cheka (secret police) case file from 1921 has shed light on his life, particularly the last few fateful months. The file was started shortly after Rybin was arrested by the Cheka at the end of January 1921, and closed on February 24 1921 when he was sentenced by a military court. […] You can read the rest of the arcticle on the Kate Sharpley Library website: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/kwh8f8

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 81, February 2015 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/h18bdv This issue contains: “Nameless in the crowd of nameless ones...” Some thoughts on The Story of A Proletarian Life, by Bartolomeo Vanzetti, 1923 by Barry Pateman The slow burning fuse: the lost history of the British anarchists [Book review] Strikers, Hobblers, Conchies & Reds : The Bristol Radical History Group book Updates on the history of Russian anarchism (February 2015) Friends of the Kate Sharpley Library (2015) Anarchist Research: A Postcard from Berta Tubisman

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 82-83, July 2015 [Double issue] has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/vmcx14 Contents list is at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/37pwk5 Contents: An Appeal to the Young: Some thoughts on a best seller by Barry Pateman Two American anarchist newspapers online La Nueve – 24 August 1944. The Spanish Republicans who liberated Paris by Evelyn Mesquida [Book review] Death of Eduardo Escot Bocanegra, Andalusian libertarian shipped to the Nazi Camp in Mauthausen by Ángel del Rio London Anarchist Bookfair 2015 Marcelino de la Parra, Anarcho-syndicalist Guerrilla from León by Antonio Téllez Solà Help AK Press & Friends Recover from Fire Thoughts on local anarchist newspapers in 1980s Britain Colin Parker 1948-2015 by Nick Heath International Anarchist Manifesto on the War [1915]

Our friends at AK Press have put the lead item from issue 84 of our bulletin on their blog: http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/anarchist-history-confessions-of-an-awkward-pupil-by-barry-pateman/ Quote:

When the KSL issued our first publication, George Cores’ “Personal Recollections of the Anarchist Past” in 1992 there really was a shortage of good, accurate and informative books, articles or pamphlets about the history of anarchism. The works of Paul Avrich were the gold standard – exhaustively researched and reliable – and other occasional gems shone out of the pile. Some of the available material, though, was disturbingly erroneous and we have to put that down partly to a lack of primary material that led authors to make strange assumptions about people and their ideas. Within twenty-odd years, matters had changed beyond recognition. In 1992 I had read more or less every book and pamphlet on the history of anarchism. Now there has been a relative explosion in the material available. Books, pamphlets, articles and blog posts are appearing constantly and, in a rather comforting way, it is impossible to read them all – especially the latter, and this is not even taking into account the once rare and inaccessible newspapers and pamphlets that are now available to read online as well as the digitization of letters and pamphlets that, once, one would have had to travel the world to see.

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 84, October 2015 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/x3fh0j Contents list is at http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/c86835 Contents: Anarchist History: confessions of an awkward pupil by Barry Pateman Tenth Anniversary of the death of Eliezer Hirshauge (1911-1954) [A work in progress] by Dinah Hirshauge Library News (October 2015) (inc. New publication: What Does Syndicalism Want?) Anarchism by George Woodcock [Review] by Frank Mintz Happy reading!

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 85, March 2016 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: [url=http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/bnzthf ]http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/bnzthf [/url] Contents list is at http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/59zx7m Contents: Thoughts on anarchism, academia and history by Professor Yaffle (With Richard Warren cartoons) The Anarchist Expropriators by Osvaldo Bayer [Review] The Lessons of History by Albert Meltzer Solidarity and Silence: the story of Ona Šimaitė, librarian lifesaver [Review] by Marc Record Johnny come home: a review by John Barker Living Anarchism: José Peirats and the Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement by Chris Ealham [Review] by Stan Brook Library News [February 2016] Happy reading!

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library 86-87, May 2016 [Double issue] has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/j0zqs9. Contents list is at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/h44kcf Contents: When Albert died (personal recollections) by John Patten To Spread the Revolution: Anarchist Archives and Libraries by Jessica Moran What? Anarchists in Egypt! [Before 1916] by Costantino Paonessa The Princetown escapee by Nick Heath Credit / extras Natan Futerfas (photo and brief notes)

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 88, October 2016 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/47d8zs Contents list is at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/crjfr4 Contents: Bob McGlynn: New York Anarchist. Greetings compañero for you are going by Bernabé García Polanco. The dossier of subject no.1218 : a Bulgarian anarchist’s story by Alexander Nakov [Review]. Graphic dreams of Utopia [Book review of The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia] by Richard Warren. Ruth Kinna “Kropotkin: Reviewing The Classical Anarchist Tradition” [Book review] by Barry Pateman. Library (book) news (October 2016).

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 89, January 2017 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/2v6z08 Contents list is at: [url=http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/k0p42j ]http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/k0p42j [/url] Contents: Alexander Berkman’s Prison Memoirs annotated: an interview with Jessica Moran and Barry Pateman Friends and Neighbours: The Labadie Collection, Federico Arcos and Miguel Garcia Friends and Neighbours: Freedom Press Library News (January 2017) The Albert Memorial: The Anarchist Life and Times of Albert Meltzer (2016 edition) [Book review] by Richard Warren Homuncula by John Henri Nolette [Book review] by Barry Pateman Making Sense of Anarchism: Errico Malatesta’s experiments with revolution 1889-1900 by Davide Turcato [Book review]

A couple of longer pieces: Essay on The International Anarchist Manifesto On The War February 1915 "...In summary, we can see that the anarchists responsible for the Manifesto attempted to critique the interventionists position and rally what they felt was a confused and despondent movement—a movement ‘devitalized and confused by the war crisis” as Leonard Abbott wrote in December 1914. They also wanted to re-affirm the ability of pre-War anarchism to deal with the situation many anarchists found themselves as the War relentlessly progressed. Throughout the Manifesto, leading up to its passionate final paragraph, is the assertion of the relevance of the anarchism, that it’s final paragraph defines. Anarchism is not unable to deal with the challenges of the war. Nothing has changed. As anarchists they know where they want the world to go. Never has anarchism been more relevant as we fight for our alternative to the horror around us and, remarkably, never has anarchism’s realization been more possible." NO DESPONDENCY: The International Anarchist Manifesto On The War February 1915 https://kslnotes.wordpress.com/2017/03/23/no-despondency-the-international-anarchist-manifesto-on-the-war-february-1915/ Best practice for digitizing documents "As librarians in charge of a historical memory to preserve and transmit, we must take time to think properly before blindly launching digitizing projects spurred by enthusiasm or what is fashionable at the time. Since people and energies at our disposal are rare and precious, we must use them wisely and aim at the more sustainable solutions possible given what we currently know." http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/d51dfr

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 90, May 2017 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/1jwtwm Contents page is at http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/kh19rr Contents: Listen Punks! by Henry Black Thoughts on Anarchism in ‘the Thatcher years’ Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist by Alexander Berkman, annotated and introduced by Jessica Moran and Barry Pateman [Book review] Two interesting donations Left of the Left: my memories of Sam Dolgoff [Book review] Time Capsule a Reminder of Anarchist Struggles [Lausanne] by Cécile Collet 4th Historical Memory Cycle Ride: Pistolerismo in Zaragoza, 1920-1923 by Kike Garcia

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 91-92, October 2017 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/4xgzhw Contents page is at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/vq8510 Contents An obscure heroine by Ida Pilat Isca Everlasting Murder by Max Baginski Rejecting the Legend by Louis Mercier Vega Why I am an anarchist by Nikolai Ivanovich Pavlov Kropotkin Goes Missing Postbag / Library News Crass and Class War in the Thatcher years, by an ex-member of Bristol Class War [Stop the city] Stonehenge ’85 Leah Feldman Interview (Leah Feldman, Leo Rosser and Philip Ruff) [Debating the Miners’ Strike 1] The Miners and the Left [Debating the Miners’ Strike 2] Letter: [The Miners and the Left] [Debating the Miners’ Strike 3] Letter: The Miners’ Strike and the Anarchists [Debating the Miners’ Strike 4] [Letter: Anarchists and the Miners’ strike] [Debating the Miners’ Strike 5] The Miners & Social Change by Albert Meltzer

Oh, and the Library news includes: New pamphlet: The Anarchists in Paris, May-June 1968 by Le Flûtiste An anarchist eyewitness to the revolt of May-June 1968, Le Flûtiste (‘the flute player’) looks back on the highs and lows of Paris’ student-worker rebellion. Topics covered include, student life before the revolt, the barricades of the Latin Quarter, the student and worker occupations and strikes and the part played by the anarchists in the upheaval. ‘Anarchy, which the Stalinists and socialists generally – not to mention the bourgeois – had declared a dead duck in the land of Utopia, was rising like the phoenix from the ashes! Its burial licence had expired, to the great annoyance of all those respectable folk.’ ISBN 9781873605110 £3 24 pages

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 93-94, March 2018 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/m0chf2 Contents page is at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/zkh32f Contents: Here is Louise Michel (by Louise Michel) "She is a menace to society, for she has declared a hundred times that everyone should take part in the banquet of life." The Princess Casamassima by Henry James [Review]. "The idea that it is the sheer usefulness of the poor that makes the rich determined to keep them poor was evidently beyond Henry James." Mr Batllori’s Death. The Friend of Ferrer "the kind and modest comrade whom an imperfect knowledge of our tongue rendered very coy, and whose face bore the indelible imprint of the torments he had previously undergone." Tom Keell by Oscar Swede "And what good did all the talking do? Well, it kept the torch alive and has handed it on." Transition and the right to well-being by Albert Meltzer "If the community advances all are responsible – if we are not now in the conditions of the Middle ages everyone has contributed in one way or another to what is, and the right to well-being is universal. Not just for the famous, or the rich, or the well connected; not just for the proletariat or for all those who work – but all." Gig economy, pig economy by Richard Warren [cartoon] The Price We Pay "The social wealth created isn’t used to benefit all of us equally – far from it! A large slice is constantly creamed off by a small section of the population who do no work at all – the ruling class." Anarchy and the art of motor-cycle maintenance [Or, Squatting in Ilford] by Chris Broad. "It is as though we are separated by a wall, one side painted blue and the other green. We both agree that the wall must be destroyed, but at the moment we are fighting each other over what colour the wall is." Looking at Anarchist solidarity with prisoners and exiles in the Soviet Union "Not only did they stop people from starving: there was the psychological support of being remembered." Anarchist Solidarity : An exchange between Lilly Sarnoff and Alexander Berkman "Well, you are at liberty to have your own opinion on the matter. That is why I call myself an Anarchist, leaving others free to act and think as they believe best." Library News (March 2018) Book news/mini-reviews [March 2018]

thanks. glad you've enjoyed it.

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 95, July 2018 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/0gb6n3 The contents page is at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/tx97nv Contents: Lenin is a-coming by Camillo Berneri "The working man needs to be told that Lenin will not be crossing the Alps like some 'great red bear' to liberate Italy" Anarchism in the 1980s: an interview with another ex-member of Bristol Class War. "It made you feel confident and strong. It wasn’t us who should be worried. It was them! ‘Behold Your Future Executioners!’" Portrait of the artist as a wanted man: Philip Ruff’s search for Peter the Painter by John Patten "Ruff has discovered the where and how of his last disappearance. The final words of the book reflect on Žāklis’s fate, but also show what Ruff has learned himself: ‘survival can demand as much bravery as the willingness to die for a noble cause’." (already up at http://libcom.org/library/portrait-artist-wanted-man-philip-ruff-s-search-peter-painter) The Anarchists in London 1935-1955 : a Personal Memoir by Albert Meltzer [Review]. "When the second edition of 'The Albert Memorial' was being put together, I recall one of Albert’s comrades saying ‘I miss the old rascal’. Now we have a chance to enjoy some of his work again. Anarchist History Roundup July 2018 The Rag-Pickers’ Puigcerdá Manifesto: Fight for History; Tyneside Anarchist Archive; Working Class History Podcast: John Barker Interview; Sparks of Hope; Anarchist history on screen

Here's the Anarchist History Roundup July 2018 The Rag-Pickers’ Puigcerdá Manifesto: Fight for History The writing of Anarchist history is a scene of conflict. Antonio Gascón and Agustín Guillamón declare: ‘Faced with the growing bringing of the profession of historian into disrepute, and in spite of whatever honorable and outstanding examples there may be around, we, Antonio Gascón and Agustín Guillamón, abjure the description ‘historian’ in the aim of averting undesirable and unpleasant confusion: grounds enough for us lay claim to the honest pursuit of collectors of ancient testimonies and papers: rag-pickers of history.’ You can read the manifesto at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/4tmqmn. Their piece Antonio Martín Escudero (1895-1937), ‘The Durruti of the Cerdaña’, which will give you the background to the manifesto is at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/cc2h2r. [originally posted at christiebooks] Tyneside Anarchist Archive There’s a growing number of anarchist archives online (see http://spiritofrevolt.info/ and http://www.thesparrowsnest.org.uk/ for starters). Now there’s one devoted to the North East of England at https://tynesideanarchistarchive.wordpress.com/ Some of the items here are tantalising – we only get to the see the cover of the dissertation on ‘Anarchism in North East England (1886-1990)’ – but the commentary shows its done by people who know what they’re talking about (see the comments about anarchists from different groups working together against the Poll Tax). It might even become the regional equivalent of the Irish Anarchist History collection (https://irishanarchisthistory.wordpress.com/). Working Class History Podcast: John Barker Interview Working Class History is a podcast devoted to a history from below approach: ‘History isn’t made by kings or politicians, it is made by us: billions of ordinary people.’ This is a two-part interview with John Barker. It covers not just his own background but the general 1960s context of working class ‘hedonism and audacity’ and capitalist offensive to restore order. Thankfully, in discussing the Angry Brigade John Barker has a sense of proportion and humour (he’s open about the lack of ‘criminal nous’) rather than striking a nostalgic radical pose (no ‘Look at me, I was an urbane gorilla’). Barker is good on the importance of the trial: both the effort the defendants put into explaining their anti-elitist politics and why a jury trial made that important. The thing I found most interesting was his reflections on the collapse of the post-war consensus: “My mum and dad and a lot of others they fought this war. They fought this war for the state. - World War Two? Yes, World War Two, they fought this, right? And in a way they had to be rewarded. And us, the kids, we got the reward. We got free university education and all this. And this… - Without fighting the war Without fighting the war. And this was a reward for the children of the parents who’d done it. I only think about this in retrospect but I’m sure this was the case and, you know, in a certain time around 1975 the ruling class suddenly said ‘Fuck this, we’ve paid you off now, you’re not having any.’ Because, you know, you could say, ‘Oh well, maybe, from one point of view, you could say we took the piss, actually.’ [laughter] Having this relatively easy situation we took the piss but this was a whole, you know, this wasn’t just a few, you know, dropout layabouts, this was, I think, the young working class actually was assertive.” The WCH team have put in footnotes. There’s a nice bit where North American comrades are told that ‘dustman’ is British English for ‘garbage collector’ – but we also learn that the South Wales terms was ‘ashman’. The first part of the interview is at https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/03/07/episode-2-the-angry-brigade-part-1/ Sparks of Hope (reflections on early anarchist papers) by Barry Pateman You can now get it as a digital album https://goodfriendrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sparks-of-hope-reflections-on-early-anarchist-papers Anarchist history on screen Video footage of Leah Feldman, Albert Meltzer, Leo Rosser and Phil Ruff can be seen at https://archive.org/details/@kate_sharpley. These are unedited tapes from an anarchist history project involving Leo Rosser filmed in the 1980s. Phil Ruff talks about the Siege of Sidney Street in the very early stages of his researches which led to his book A Towering Flame : The Life & Times of ‘Peter the Painter’(2018).

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 96, October 2018 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/sj3wmw. The contents page is at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/j3tzrw Contents: Pierre Monatte: no stripes, no rank by Louis Mercier Vega "His reportage, his pamphlets explain, appeal, invite and incite. Not some mania but dogged questing after what might be and sometimes was. With no illusions and no regrets." Revolution and the State: Anarchism and the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Danny Evans [Review] "Evans approaches history with questions to ask, rather than ready-made answers to bludgeon us with." The missing memoirs of Tom Brown, Tyneside syndicalist. "If you know the current location of his memoirs, or you can tell us something that would help to track them down, we’d be glad to hear from you." Juan Busquets (former Maquis) on Ramón Vila Capdevila, his comrade "I want them to bury me Way up in the high mountains Alongside the tall pine tree That stands alone in the gully" Anarchism, 1914-1918: Internationalism, anti-militarism and war [Book Review] by Barry Pateman "The anthology brings together many themes that we still struggle with today and opens many doors so that others can go through. Hopefully more work will be produced as a result of these essays." Recently received (October 2018).

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 97-98, February 2019 [Double issue] has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/k0p452. The contents page is at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/0cfzsx Contents Osvaldo Bayer is Dead "He showed up at every protest by workers, peasants and native communities. Championship of ethics and human rights was his forte." Osvaldo Bayer 1927-2018: In Memoriam by Frank Mintz "There is no separating Osvaldo Bayer’s output from the annals of Argentinean and world anarchism" Alan MacSimoin 1957-2018 "Coming from Irish Republicanism to anarchism in the 1970s, he belonged to the Murrays Defence Committee, the Dublin Anarchist Group, the Anarchist Workers Alliance and helped found the Workers Solidarity Movement in 1984." Anarchy: A Definition by Stuart Christie "Whatever the immediate prospects of achieving a free society, and however remote the ideal, if we value our common humanity then we must never cease to strive to realise our vision." A beautiful idea: history of the Freedom Press anarchists by Rob Ray [Book review] "Rob Ray’s book begins with the disarming confession that he imagined writing a ‘relatively short pamphlet’ (p3). 300 pages later you’ve been given a whistle-stop tour of Freedom’s history" Statement by the Black Flag Group to the Liverpool Conference of the Anarchist Federation of Britain, Sept., 1968 "Anarchism is a revolutionary method of achieving a free non-violent society, without class divisions or imposed authority." 1952: Barcelona executions, global protests (Case number 658-IV-49) including material by Miguel Garcia Garcia "Every one of the resistance organizations – with only a few exceptions – had been smashed. Some had shot it out, some had been taken by surprise, some had been shot down." The Invisible Dictatorship [a short history of Anarchy magazine (second series)] by Philip Ruff "Humbled as I am to be awarded the position of Great Helmsman of the Anarchy Collective, the historical facts are rather different." News from the Kate Sharpley Library, February 2019 (more books on the way!) David Porter "David was a fine man and a fine historian." The Massana Gang by Imanol (with material by José Ester Borrás) "his was possibly the only group of any vintage that suffered no losses and that was a real rarity; his life was also spared because after he had disarmed some customs officers in France, he was charged and was then banished far from the French-Spanish border and was not deported." Thoughts on ‘What everyone should know about state repression’ by Victor Serge "The book’s an evocation of the Russian revolutionary tradition which gives it a certain amount of derring-do" See also https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/doc/february-2019-kate-sharpley-library-bulletin-online for the extras that didn't get into this issue: Photo of eight Nabat Confederation anarchists with notes by Malcolm Archibald and Anatoly Dubovik The Funeral of Sazhin-Ross by A. Alekseyev, Translation and notes by Malcolm Archibald. Bolshevik Concern for the Individual by V.T., Translation and notes by Malcolm Archibald. The Lost Memoirs of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Isaak Tarasiuk, Translation and editing by Malcolm Archibald Ivan Alekseyevich Yudin by G. P. Maximoff And two poems: The gods are dead by J. William Lloyd The Disinherited by J. William Lloyd

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 99, July 2019 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/00013n
Contents list is at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/pnvzr7

Contents:
The First of May. "This coming May 1st, the Toilers of the entire world will take to the streets: to do what? Why will they do so? To demand what? A palliative that is not going to be able to bring about any improvement in our lot."

The Sons of Night by Antoine Gimenez and the Giménologues [Book review] "This is a great work of history from below, full of untold stories and unheard voices. There’s Hans ‘Jack’ Vesper who dragged himself back through no-man’s land and ended up in such a state that he thought he was a bear."

Factionalism & Individualism by Albert Meltzer "Declension: “I assert individuality”; “You introduce factionalism”; “They are schismatics”"

Anarchist history roundup July 2019 part 1. Peter the Painter, Wobblies, Emma Goldman and Special Branch files on British anarchists (1945-52)

Brenda Christie (1949-2019): a tribute "she turned her back on the ‘dolce vita’ of sixties Milan because it ‘failed to satisfy her sense of moral integrity.’ Instead, she lived a life full and committed."

The Russian anarchist movement in North America by Lazar Lipotkin [review] "Lipotkin provides an extremely valuable account of the activities of the Russian anarchist movement in America, which was affected but not destroyed by repression in both America and Russia."

Highlights from the 'Anarchist history roundup part one'

"It might be that organisations such as the IWW are impossible to replicate today, but they are important to learn about if only for their abilities to speak with people and not at them. This is something that, the Left today, for whatever reasons, appears to have difficulty replicating." (Barry Pateman reviewing Wobblies of the World)

"I lived closely with her memory and work for thirteen years, helping to put out three volumes of her letters and writings. As I grow older it pains me to see how she has been treated by anarchists and historians alike. Many of them have filleted her ideas to find those they find prescient and relevant today ignoring anything that doesn’t fit their own particular predetermined ideas or needs." (Barry Pateman on Emma Goldman)

And the material from the National Archives (HO 45/25554) includes:
Cover of Special Branch file on the Syndicalist Workers' Federation (1949).
Freedom Defence Committee brochure.
The Freedom Press Anarchists and H.M. Forces.
Special Branch biography of Ethel Mannin (1945).
Special Branch biography of George Orwell (1942?).
Special Branch biography of George Woodcock (1945).
Special Branch biography of Herbert Read (1945).
Special Branch biography of Ingebord Hedwig Elisabeth Roskelly (1945).
Special Branch biography of Simon Watson Taylor (1945).
Special Branch report on Industrial Workers of the World in Britain (1947).
Special Branch report on meeting held by Freedom Defence Committee (1945).
Special Branch report on protest meeting against Barcelona executions (1952).
Special Branch report on the Syndicalist Workers' Federation (1950).

A December message from the Library has gone up https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/7wm4kc which contains links to recent reviews and historic articles we've posted. There's also an apology of sorts: "We haven’t managed to get a bulletin out before the new year. That’s really because we have too much stuff rather than not enough. You can get a sense of what that does to you in ‘Looking back at the back issues’ " https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/k98v2t

Thanks to Stuart for the photo: "a cheery Albert (modelling his Sanday knitters jersey) ..." source: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/6m91h3

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 100-101, January 2020 [Double issue] has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/g1jz9m
You can get to the contents list at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/xd26zm

Contents:
Looking back at the back issues "It seemed a simple idea: look through back issues of the Kate Sharpley Library’s bulletin to find some interesting articles, and then encourage people to read them and think about anarchist history..."
December 2019 message from the Kate Sharpley Library "Particular thanks have to go the comrade who sent us historic copies of War Commentary and Freedom."
Mini-reviews: Biographies (anarchist lives from around the world)
Death of a good comrade [Daniel Mullen] by Jack Wade (1942. From the First World War to the Spanish Revolution, via the fight for Irish independence)
The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism by Ruth Kinna [Book review] by Sonny Disposition "This is a book devoted to ideas, rather than a history. I found it thought-provoking: some is good, in some places I disagree with the analysis and in others I think ‘oh dear me, don’t go there’."
Beyond a footnote: ‘Class struggle anarchism’ "When and why did the phrase ‘class-struggle anarchism’ come into use?"
Something should be done (or How to revolt) [book review] "Freedom is its own reward, and is exhilarating. And even when you lose, you know that freedom is possible. That’s why you should read this little book."
Miguel Garcia: a personal appreciation by Gerfried Horst "Regarding his own life, he said he felt satisfaction to have always acted according to his principles. He told me that nobody could live without an ‘ilusión’, which is not ‘illusion’ in the English sense, but a ‘hopeful anticipation’, a dream that may become true."
Dialogue in the form of soliloquy by Louis Mercier Vega (1946) "there is a sensible need to come up with a practical solution to the painful contradiction between the dynamism of the young and the slightly amorphous wisdom of the old."
Extras on the website (just because we can't fit it all in the bulletin, doesn't mean you shouldn't have a look)
Speaking and Writing (Comment) by Albert Meltzer "This piece sheds a little light on how Albert’s style of discussion was formed in a movement where dealing with hecklers was a necessary skill, one where humour could be used for defence or attack."
Albert Grace by Joe Thomas "I have a vivid recollection of being rescued by Albert Grace in the course of having an ‘altercation’ with a mounted policeman."
W. A. Gape Half A Million Tramps (1936) [Review] by Barry Pateman "Half A Million Tramps constantly articulates the tension between what an individual tramp may feel to be their rights and what charity, religion and the state decide these rights actually are."
Our Masters Are Helpless: The Essays of George Barrett edited by Iain McKay [book review] by Barry Pateman "You might disagree with him at times but his striving to reach those who are not anarchists, using language that is clear and effective, is important and impressive. In a time of apparent madness his assertion that anarchism is common sense remains an important message for us all."
The Trouble with National Action [Book Review] "This is not a book which is particularly concerned with government policy, nor with maintaining ‘business as usual’."
Liz Willis Obituary of the Solidarity member and historian, "she remained a ‘free rebel spirit’ to the end."
Ken Williams (ex-East London DAM) has died. We hope to have an obituary in a future issue
Biographies by Sergei Ovsiannikov (links to Russian anarchist lives including Anarchist Women in Maltsev Prison 1907–1908)

from the first issue of "NOT the bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library", No.1 April 2020 which you can download from https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/63xttn
Contents:
New research: The 1945 split in British anarchism
New pieces on the Kate Sharpley Library website (two book reviews on Simón Radowitzky and Octavio Alberola; a reflection on Mayday from 1944; and Albert Meltzer's attitude to conscription, from 1940).
Ebooks (cheap anarchist ones)
Tyneside Anarchist Archive get interviewed
Bad days will end (101 years ago)