Living Anarchism

A study of one man and a collective biography of the working class into which he was born. The story of José Peirats shows the human foundations of Spanish anarchism, the ties of friendship and community that cemented the largest anti-authoritarian movement in the world. In his biography of Pierats—anarchist, autodidact, brick maker and historian—Chris Ealham presents us with an unsettling portrayal of that most challenging and complex organization, the CNT-FAI, both in its greatest moments and in the agony and brutality of its exile. Commanding the narrative throughout, though, is Peirats. José Peirats both helped make history as a militant anarchist, sometimes with gun in hand, and wrote some of the most detailed and determinedly impartial history our movement has ever produced. It is a matter of real satisfaction to know that this extraordinary militant and scholar has the biography he deserves.