Anarchism in The Books Store

A detailed, scholarly study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), a group of twentieth-century militants dedicated to keeping Spain's largest labor union, the CNT, on a revolutionary, anarcho-syndicalist path. Stuart Christie's analysis covers the history of Spanish anarchism and the Spanish Civil War, and provides lessons relevant to today's largely neutered labor movement. A gripping and informative tale!

Stuart Christie is the co-founder of Anarchist Black Cross and Cienfuegos Press, and the author of Granny Made Me an Anarchist. He was imprisoned in 1964 for attempting to assassinate Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Labadie, in his activities as unionist, socialist, anarchist, and passionate social agitator, was involved in a profusion of worker and radical causes. The book follows his idiosyncratic life from a childhood among a Pottawotami tribe in the Michigan woods through his involvement in the Socialist Labor Party, Knights of Labor, Greenback movement, trades councils, typographical union, eight-hour-workday campaigns and the rise of the American Federation of Labor. The story of his relationships with Samuel Gompers, Terence Powderly, Eugene Debs, Johann Most, Benjamin Tucker, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin and the Haymarket anarchists illuminates their personalities and the flavor of the era in which they lived.

“Stuart Christie’s anarchist activities and brushes with the law make the Sex Pistols look like choir boys.”—Sunday Express

“A fascinating personal account . . . a remarkable picture of the late twentieth century, seen through sensitive eyes and interpreted by a compassionate, searching soul.”—Noam Chomsky

In 1964, a fresh-faced, eighteen-year-old Glaswegian named Stuart Christie became the most famous anarchist in Britain. He was arrested delivering dynamite to Madrid to be used in the assassination of Spanish dictator General Franco. After serving three of his twenty-year sentence, he was released, due to international pressure from supporters like Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul Sartre. Eight years later, he was arrested again in England on suspicion of membership in the Angry Brigade—an armed group hell-bent on overthrowing the government—but was this time acquitted. Christie’s warm and witty memoir, from the tough streets of post-World War II Glasgow to the heady ideals of the Generation of ’68, reads like a cloak-and-dagger political thriller.

Granny Made Me an Anarchist chronicles clandestine political maneuverings, life behind bars, and flirtations with radical youth who were convinced the government could be toppled and their country made anew. Avoiding the self-centered trappings of many 1960s memoirs, Christie’s lamentations shine light into the darkness and illuminate the human soul.

Stuart Christie was a founder of the Anarchist Black Cross, Black Flag magazine, and Cienfuegos Press. He has written numerous books on Left and anarchist history.