Hartmann the anarchist

Originally published in 1892 when Fawcett was 16 years old, this work has been out of print for over 100 years. Central to the plot is the division between socialists and anarchists, reformers and revolutionaries – are the working class active participants in their own liberation or do they seek salvation through charismatic leaders? Although Hartmann shows little faith in the ‘swinish multitude’s’ ability to liberate themselves, he produces a devastating and surprisingly contemporary critique on consumerism and globalisation. Fawcett was writing against the background of ‘Propaganda by the Deed’ when anarchists throughout Europe were hellbent on a wave of assassinations and bombings. In Rudolph Hartmann he has created a man who has harnessed the power of science – in the dastardly form of his airship The Attila – to multiply the destructive capacity of such revolutionaries a hundredfold. Introduction by Ian Bone.