Death to Bourgeois Society: The Propagandists of the Deed

by Mitchell Abidor (Editor)

Never before presented in English, here are the actual words and explanations of the acts of the Propagandists of the Deed, which had enormous impact on French political and cultural life
 
Perhaps no period has so marked, so deformed, or so defined the anarchist movement as the three years in France from 1892 to 1894, the years known as the Age of Attentats, the years dominated by the Propagandists of the Deed. Death to Bourgeois Society tells the story of four young anarchists who were guillotined in France in the 1890s. The volume focuses on the main avatars of this movement and contains key first-person narratives of the events, from Ravachol’s forbidden speech and his account of his life, to Emile Henry’s questioning at his trial and his programmatic letter to the director of the prison in which he was held, to Auguste Vaillant’s confrontation with the investigators immediately after tossing his bomb, and Santo Caserio’s description of the assassination and his defense at his trial. In a time of cynicism and political decay for many, they represented a purity lacking in society, and their actions when they were captured, their forthrightness, their defiance up to the guillotine only added to their luster.

Genres: Politics

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2016

Reviews

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

tampon bomb… yeahhh they just don’t make em like they used to

[Jesse Hilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morally repellent behavior, of course, to commit murder. This was instructive to me to try to differentiate the actions of certain anarchist threads from the others. It wasn’t as interesting to me to read the arrest reports and confessions of Ravachol, Vailliant, and Emile Henry, as it has been to read the more theoretical works on anarchy, and the historical writing.

[Conner Demned · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book that details the activities of 5 principaled individuals. what better way to experience the history than through the accused men's very own words?

This was an interesting dive through history, and it shows that history definitely has a few repeating patterns.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay honestly I just read the court statements by Ravachol, August Vaillant, Emile Henry, and Sante Caserío, all of which were great.

[Isak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came for the Disco Elysium lore, stayed for the crazy times.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was an interesting period of history.