Bakunin
The Creative Passion-A Biography
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- USD 13.99
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- USD 13.99
Descripción editorial
The spellbinding story of both the man and the theory, Bakunin chronicles one of the most notorious radicals in history: Mikhail Bakunin, the founder of anarchism, here revealed as a practical moral philosophy rooted in a critique of wealth and power.
Mark Leier corrects many of the popular misconceptions about Bakunin and his ideas, offering a fresh interpretation of his life and thoughts. Bakunin is an insightful read for all those who wish to better understand the fundamental basis of modern radical movements.
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The life of Bakunin (1814 1876), the Russian architect of the anarchist movement, provides a surprisingly enjoyable introduction to the tumult of 19th-century radicalism. However, Leier's account of Bakunin's evolution from a jingoistic cadet to the man who proclaimed "if there is a state there is necessarily... slavery" focuses more on the thinker than the personality; one wishes for more glimpses of the man behind the ideas. A military officer turned philosopher, Bakunin could discuss Hegel or man a barricade with equal aplomb. He rubbed shoulders with George Sand in 1844 Paris, served in working-men's militias in Paris and Dresden, spent harrowing months shackled to prison walls in Dresden, Prague and Russia, and finally made a daring escape from Siberian exile in 1861 to (eventually) Italy. A chapter on the roots of Bakunin's thought in German idealism provides a lucid eight-page pr cis of Hegel's ideas that's actually fun to read. The feud between Bakunin and Marx gets ample space. Occasionally, Leier falls into jarring slang, and what he sees as the optimism of anarchy may seem like na vet to others. But he brings welcome consideration to the real merits of the movement's theory.
