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James Joll's comprehensive book introduces the reader to the personalities, theories and practical politics of the anarchist movement throughout its history. In the first part the author discusses the early precursors of anarchism and in Part Two he presents the full spectrum of anarchist activity in many countries during the heyday of the movement in the nineteenth century. The third section and the conclusion chronicle the fate of anarchism in the twentieth century and cover, amongst other things, the Spanish Civil War and a discussion of the quasi-anarchist student movements of the late 1960s.
395 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
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259 people want to read
About the author
James Joll
17 books6 followersames Bysse Joll FBA (21 June 1918 – 12 July 1994) was a British historian and university lecturer whose works included The Origins of the First World War and Europe Since 1870. He also wrote on the history of anarchism and socialism.
Life and career
Joll was born on 21 June 1918 in Bristol[1] and was educated at Winchester, the University of Bordeaux and New College, Oxford. He left to join the British Army in 1940, eventually serving in the Special Operations Executive. He returned to Oxford after World War II, completed his studies, and became an instructor there. He was a Fellow and Tutor in Politics from 1947 until 1950. He then transferred to St Antony's College. In 1955 he met the painter and art historian John Golding;[2] the two men formed a long relationship which lasted until Joll's death.[3]
While at Oxford, Joll wrote a book on the Second International (1955) and a book on Léon Blum, Walter Rathenau, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, called Intellectuals in Politics (1960). In 1964 he published The Anarchists, which showed his intertwined interests in the culture, events, political philosophy, and individual personalities forming the history of a Leftist movement.
In 1967 Joll left St Antony's, Oxford to teach at the London School of Economics, as the Stevenson Professor of International History.[1] His best known work was Europe Since 1870: an International History, which appeared in 1973. He returned to biography in 1977, with his book on Italian Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci; he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year. Several prizes in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics remain named in his honour. Later, he gave refuge to Anthony Blunt, Golding's colleague at the Courtauld Institute and former teacher, after Blunt's exposure as a former Soviet spy, for which Joll was attacked in the press.[2]
Following his retirement in 1981, he became Emeritus Professor of the University of London.
Joll died 12 July 1994 from the cancer of the larynx.[1] In his obituary notice for The Independent newspaper, the historian Sir Michael Howard, noted:
Joll's real focus was the history of ideas broadly conceived – philosophical, ethical and aesthetic, as well as political – and the interface between this and the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He firmly believed that history was made by people rather than by dispassionate forces. But he also believed that one could not understand why people act as they do unless one also understands the influences that moulded their minds.[2]
Life and career
Joll was born on 21 June 1918 in Bristol[1] and was educated at Winchester, the University of Bordeaux and New College, Oxford. He left to join the British Army in 1940, eventually serving in the Special Operations Executive. He returned to Oxford after World War II, completed his studies, and became an instructor there. He was a Fellow and Tutor in Politics from 1947 until 1950. He then transferred to St Antony's College. In 1955 he met the painter and art historian John Golding;[2] the two men formed a long relationship which lasted until Joll's death.[3]
While at Oxford, Joll wrote a book on the Second International (1955) and a book on Léon Blum, Walter Rathenau, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, called Intellectuals in Politics (1960). In 1964 he published The Anarchists, which showed his intertwined interests in the culture, events, political philosophy, and individual personalities forming the history of a Leftist movement.
In 1967 Joll left St Antony's, Oxford to teach at the London School of Economics, as the Stevenson Professor of International History.[1] His best known work was Europe Since 1870: an International History, which appeared in 1973. He returned to biography in 1977, with his book on Italian Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci; he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year. Several prizes in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics remain named in his honour. Later, he gave refuge to Anthony Blunt, Golding's colleague at the Courtauld Institute and former teacher, after Blunt's exposure as a former Soviet spy, for which Joll was attacked in the press.[2]
Following his retirement in 1981, he became Emeritus Professor of the University of London.
Joll died 12 July 1994 from the cancer of the larynx.[1] In his obituary notice for The Independent newspaper, the historian Sir Michael Howard, noted:
Joll's real focus was the history of ideas broadly conceived – philosophical, ethical and aesthetic, as well as political – and the interface between this and the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He firmly believed that history was made by people rather than by dispassionate forces. But he also believed that one could not understand why people act as they do unless one also understands the influences that moulded their minds.[2]
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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April 29, 2025This is a very enjoyable well written and informative history. It is a pity that it has been written in the 60s and respectively ends with the Spanish Civil War. I've learned a lot about the history and theory of the movement, its main ideologists and the attempts to act on it. I've done numerous updates in the process. I guess the main conflict within this ideology is its assumptions on the human nature (very good and amenable in the absence of any institutions that corrupt it) and the reality of how to get to the stage when those "corrupting" institutions are destroyed. Those ones include private property, money, state. They've tried different methods in history from "propaganda by deeds" (more glorified name for terrorism) to anarchy-syndicalism in France, Makhhno's peasant anarchism in Ukraine and Catalonia's self-governance during Spanish Civil War. Nothing lasted. My understanding is that "Occupy" movement was the last big action broadly inspired by this ideology. I plan to continue reading up on it including David Graeber and Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. I can see why it might be an attractive alternative to communist/marxism but they assumption about human nature seems to be unfortunately a tad too optimistic.
December 12, 2020
Ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που επιχειρεί να κάνει μια ιστορική αναδρομή του σύγχρονου αναρχικού κινήματος. Από τα πρώτα χρόνια, ως συνέπεια της Γαλλικής Επανάστασης, μέχρι και τους αναρχικούς της Ισπανίας, το αναρχικό κίνημα, πότε στο περιθώριο, πότε στο προσκήνιο της κοινωνίας τροφοδοτεί με ελπίδα, όνειρα και καμιά φορά με παραμύθια τους κατατρεγμένους. Έχει πολύ ενδιαφέρον η διαμόρφωση του ευρύτερου κινήματος όπως παρουσιάζεται, μέσα από τους πρωταγωνιστές του θεωρητικούς και έμπρακτους επαναστάτες και τις συγκρούσεις μεταξύ τους και με την κοινωνία. Θα είχε ακόμα περισσότερο ενδιαφέρον αν το βιβλίο εμβάθυνε περισσότερο στην θεωρία του αναρχισμού κάνοντας ίσως και μια σύγκριση με το σήμερα που ο κόσμος έχει αλλάξει αλλά δεν έχει σημασία. Είναι ένα αρκετά καλό ανάγνωσμα που δίνει τροφή για σκέψη σε όποιον μπει στον κόπο να το διαβάσει.
Υ.Γ. μέτρια μετάφραση...
Υ.Γ. μέτρια μετάφραση...
November 16, 2014
“The Anarchists” by James Joll could be a key text for a systematic study of anarchist history. It’s a masterful survey, spanning in its scant 280 or so pages from anarchism’s earliest theoretical roots to the Spanish anarchists of the 1930s.
Joll begins by situating the anarchist (anti-authoritarian) impulse with the earliest Christian heretics. It’s an interesting comparison. So much of anarchist philosophy depends upon an innate faith in the goodness of man, that left to his own devices, man will organize himself into social groups that support society. Christian heretics like the Gnostics saw the material world as fundamentally corrupt. As such, systems that put any stock in money, goods, sexual pleasures, etc. needed to be done away with so that mankind could initiate the true kingdom of God.
That’s not much different than secular anarchists who saw a similar corruption in the stuff of society at large. Only, to them, the church and the state hindered mankind’s MORAL progress as opposed to its SPIRITUAL progress. Here Joll spends time with Godwin and Prudhon. I’ve read little about these two anarchist thinkers, so Joll’s survey is extremely useful.
Joll shows how both Godwin and Prudhon laid the groundwork for all future anarchists. But while their ideas inform the whole thread of anarchist thought, Joll spends more time with two thinkers who had an impact as anarchism-as-we-know-it: Bakunin and Kropotkin. Joll’s writing is compact yet very clear at delineating these men and their ideas. If it wasn’t for Bakunin, for example anarchism wouldn’t contain the idea of “propaganda by the deed” which is the motivation for anarchism’s ties to terrorism.
There’s not much time spent on U.S. anarchism. Some time with John Most, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. A section on the IWW and how US anarchism ties to Anarcho-Syndicalism, etc. I would have liked to see more. He gives Sacco and Vanzetti a gloss and never mentions the more radical American anarchist terrorists like Luigi Galleani.
Joll does delve into Russian revolution, hits on the anarchist uprisings such as those led by Nestor Makhno and describes their bloody suppression. This is good stuff, it’s hard to find much about Makno’s band of Ukrainian rebels and this book is at least a good beginning.
A long chapter of the book is devoted to the Spanish anarchists, their victories and their ultimate defeat. It’s has keen insight into how these rebels built a successful (if short-lived) revolution, positioning it as the last hurrah of an international anarchist movement.
Yes, “The Anarchists” is a good survey. It should guide readers who want to know more about anarchism towards books with more detail about individual aspects. Paul Avrich’s book “The Russian Anarchists” is a good place for more info about Bakunin and Kopotkin. Alice Wexler’s bios of Emma Goldman along with Emma’s own autobio are good sources for insight into American anarchism. Murray Bookchin’s book on the Spanish anarchists is a great resource. All these books post-date “The Anarchists” but seem to be somewhat in Joll’s debt.
Joll begins by situating the anarchist (anti-authoritarian) impulse with the earliest Christian heretics. It’s an interesting comparison. So much of anarchist philosophy depends upon an innate faith in the goodness of man, that left to his own devices, man will organize himself into social groups that support society. Christian heretics like the Gnostics saw the material world as fundamentally corrupt. As such, systems that put any stock in money, goods, sexual pleasures, etc. needed to be done away with so that mankind could initiate the true kingdom of God.
That’s not much different than secular anarchists who saw a similar corruption in the stuff of society at large. Only, to them, the church and the state hindered mankind’s MORAL progress as opposed to its SPIRITUAL progress. Here Joll spends time with Godwin and Prudhon. I’ve read little about these two anarchist thinkers, so Joll’s survey is extremely useful.
Joll shows how both Godwin and Prudhon laid the groundwork for all future anarchists. But while their ideas inform the whole thread of anarchist thought, Joll spends more time with two thinkers who had an impact as anarchism-as-we-know-it: Bakunin and Kropotkin. Joll’s writing is compact yet very clear at delineating these men and their ideas. If it wasn’t for Bakunin, for example anarchism wouldn’t contain the idea of “propaganda by the deed” which is the motivation for anarchism’s ties to terrorism.
There’s not much time spent on U.S. anarchism. Some time with John Most, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. A section on the IWW and how US anarchism ties to Anarcho-Syndicalism, etc. I would have liked to see more. He gives Sacco and Vanzetti a gloss and never mentions the more radical American anarchist terrorists like Luigi Galleani.
Joll does delve into Russian revolution, hits on the anarchist uprisings such as those led by Nestor Makhno and describes their bloody suppression. This is good stuff, it’s hard to find much about Makno’s band of Ukrainian rebels and this book is at least a good beginning.
A long chapter of the book is devoted to the Spanish anarchists, their victories and their ultimate defeat. It’s has keen insight into how these rebels built a successful (if short-lived) revolution, positioning it as the last hurrah of an international anarchist movement.
Yes, “The Anarchists” is a good survey. It should guide readers who want to know more about anarchism towards books with more detail about individual aspects. Paul Avrich’s book “The Russian Anarchists” is a good place for more info about Bakunin and Kopotkin. Alice Wexler’s bios of Emma Goldman along with Emma’s own autobio are good sources for insight into American anarchism. Murray Bookchin’s book on the Spanish anarchists is a great resource. All these books post-date “The Anarchists” but seem to be somewhat in Joll’s debt.
October 15, 2022
“The Anarchists” is a good book that has a good overview of anarchist theory and practice up to WWII. Joll is able to write an interesting, compelling history of anarchism, but his editorializing and commentary are uninteresting and liberal. He is able to make some insightful comments, though, even despite the liberalism, including that anarchism was most appealing in places with the most intense class warfare that the government was complicit or neutral in and the strategic importance of some industries over others to revolutionary syndicalists.
October 14, 2020
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 3, 2023An interesting outside look at anarchists from the beginning of the movement. The author is clearly not an anarchist himself but he seems to sympathize and understand anarchist ideas and even respect them, while at the same time concluding that they have contradictions that make them impossible to be followed in practice (according to him, anyway).
I learned a bunch about various anarchist figures whose words I had read, but this historical account put those words in context. The same happened with various deeds and actions, especially the very violent ones, which, after reading this book, I feel I understand better (even though I still condemn all but the most careful ones).
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.
I learned a bunch about various anarchist figures whose words I had read, but this historical account put those words in context. The same happened with various deeds and actions, especially the very violent ones, which, after reading this book, I feel I understand better (even though I still condemn all but the most careful ones).
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.
February 9, 2013
One of the classic books on the major figures and historical struggles in anarchist history. The overall argument of the book seems contrived and forced by the end (Joll ends with a weird musing on dadaism and surrealism) but overall a competent introduction.
September 20, 2016
Na vele jaren herlezen voor een praatje over anarchisme. Nog steeds zeer leesbaar en degelijk.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews