Words of a rebel

First published in 1885 in Paris, this collection of articles constitutes Kropotkin’s first book. Originally titled Paroles d’un Revolté, it includes his earliest works from period 1879 to 1882. In the succeeding years it was translated into Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Chinese. Long-awaited in English, Words of a Rebel is the first complete translation. A different work from the more familiar books of the older Kropotkin, it is a product of an anarchist agitator and it derives its interest as much from what it reveals about an important transitional phase in the development of anarchism as it does for what it shows us of Kropotkin himself. Seeing revolution as a popular insurrection, in the broadest terms, Kropotkin believed that public wealth should belong to its producers and consumers and not to the State or the rich. This volume of Kropotkin’s articles was translated from the French by George Woodcock. A celebrated author, Woodcock is also an authority on the life and works of Peter Kropotkin and as a result, Words of a Rebel is not just a translation, but a scholarly work as well.