Marxism, Anarchism & Radical Left Books
A large and constantly growing collection of left wing ideological books that spans various interpretations of liberation theory – from Marxism, Anarchism and the French Revolution to the American Black Panther Party, Malcolm X and anti-colonial movements. On a more personal level, this is my favorite section of The Library as well as the one I believe will be most useful for readers looking to explore left wing political theory on their own.
As always books after the cut line should be absorbed with constant vigilance towards and awareness of their ideological bias; not everyone who says they’re a “leftist” is sufficiently devoted to liberation ideology and indeed, some older volumes in this collection may contain objectively reactionary or racist viewpoints – I’m looking at you Bertrand Russell.
October 1917 Revolution: A Century Later
Samir Amin – Review – Review – Wiki Bio – Obit – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Jon Lee Anderson – Review – Review – Blurb – Background – Bonus – Bonus
Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America
Paul Avrich – Obit – Bonus – Review – Review – Further Writings
Michael Bakunin (warning)- Bio – Primer – Bonus – PDF
Michael Bakunin – Bio – Bonus – PDF
A Soldier’s Story: Revolutionary Writings by a New Afrikan Anarchist
Kuwasi Balagoon – Review – Review – Bonus – PDF
The Struggle for Power: English History 1550-1720
John Beattie, Michael Finlayson
Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity
Dan Berger – Review – Review – Review – Bonus
The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the U. S.
Dan Berger – Review – Bonus
Life of an Anarchist: The Alexander Berkman Reader
Alex Berkman, G. Fellner (Ed) – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bibliography
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr – Review – Review – Bonus – PDF
Murray Bookchin – Bio – Review (sorta) – Review – PDF – Further Writings
The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain
P. Broué, E. Témime – Broué Obit – Review – Broué Archive – Bonus
A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story
Elaine Brown – Bio – Bonus – Review – Review – Bonus – PDF
Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse
Shane Burley – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus
Creating a Movement With Teeth: A History of the George Jackson Brigade
D. Burton-Rose (Ed) – Blurb – Review (sorta) – PDF
Guerrilla USA: The GJB and the Anticapitalist Underground of the 1970s
D. Burton-Rose – No Review
Noam Chomsky – Review (Sorta) – Bonus – Bonus – Notes – PDF
Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America
Ward Churchill – Review – Review – PDF
Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly
Peter Cole – Review – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus
The Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre
de Cleyre, Berkman (Ed) – Bio – Bonus – Bonus – Further Writings – PDF
Paul D’Amato – Review – Review – Bonus
Radical Unionism: The Rise and Fall of Revolutionary Syndicalism
Ralph Darlington – Twitter – Review – Review – Bonus
Guy Debord – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
The Selected Works of Eugene V. Debs, Volume I
Eugene Debs – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – Further Writings
The Selected Works of Eugene V. Debs, Volume II
Eugene Debs – Further Writings
Selected Works of Eugene V. Debs, Vol. III
Eugene Debs – Further Writings
Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World
Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. Croix – Obit – Review – Summary – PDF
The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky
Isaac Deutscher – Review – Review – Further Writings – Bonus – Bonus
W.E.B. Du Bois – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Audio – PDF – Further Writings
Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years, 1960–1975
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz – Twitter – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus
Essential Writings of Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels – Bio – Bonus – Bonus – Further Writings
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
Mark Fisher – Review – Bonus – Audio – PDF
K-Punk: The Collected Writings of Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher – Review – Review – Bonus
Paulo Freire – Bio – Review – Bonus – Audio – PDF
How Nonviolence Protects the State
Peter Gelderloos – Twitter – Review – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
Worshiping Power: An Anarchist View of Early State Formation
Peter Gelderloos – Review – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
No Surrender: Writings from an Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner
David Gilbert – Bio – Review – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus
Emma Goldman – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Bonus – Audio – PDF
Emma Goldman – Blurb – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Emma Goldman – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
The Romance of American Communism
Vivian Gornick – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
Antonio Gramsci – Bio – Review – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
Che Guevara – Bio – Bonus – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
The Che Guevara Reader: Writings on Politics & Revolution
Che Guevara – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Che Guevara – PBS Bio – Review – Bonus – PDF
Michael Harrington – Bio – Review – Blurb – Excerpt – Bonus
David Harvey – Twitter – Review – Bonus – PDF
David Harvey – Website – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Marx, Capital, and the Madness of Economic Reason
David Harvey – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Further Writings
Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution
David Harvey – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
A People’s History of the French Revolution
Eric Hazan – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus
The Age of Revolution 1789-1848
Eric Hobsbawm – Review – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – PDF – Bonus
Eric Hobsbawm – Review – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – PDF – Bonus
Eric Hobsbawm – Review – Review – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – PDF – Bonus
Eric Hobsbawm – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
How to Change the World: Reflections on Marx and Marxism
Eric Hobsbawm – Bonus – Review – Review – PDF
Invisible Committee – Blurb – Analysis – PDF – Further Writings
Invisible Committee – Review – Bonus – PDF – Bonus
Invisible Committee – Review – Bonus – PDF – Bonus
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
Nancy Isenberg – Twitter – Review – Bonus – PDF
Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson
George L. Jackson – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
C.L.R. James – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
C.L.R. James & Revolutionary Marxism
C.L.R. James – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF (sorta)
You Don’t Play With Revolution: : The Montreal Lectures of C.L.R. James
C.L.R. James – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus
Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
Robin D.G. Kelley – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Petr Kropotkin – Review – PDF (sorta) – Further Writings
Petr Kropotkin – Review – Bonus – Audio – PDF
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Petr Kropotkin – Review – Notes – Bonus – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – PDF
The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life
David Lawday – Blurb – Review – Bonus – Bonus
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
Vladimir Lenin – Review – PDF – Bonus – Further Writings
V.I. Lenin – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Audio – PDF
Resisting Illegitimate Authority
Bruce E. Levine – Review – Bonus 1 – Bonus 2 – Bonus – Excerpt – Further Writings
Peter Linebaugh, Marcus Rediker – Review – Bonus – PDF
Rosa Luxemburg – Bio – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF – Further Writings
Rosa Luxemburg, Helen Scott (Editor) – Review 1 – Review 2 – PDF
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung
Mao Tse-Tung – Review (sorta) – Bonus – PDF – Additional Writings
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Manning Marable – Obit – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Excerpt
Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism
Peter H. Marshall – Website – Review (sorta) – Blurb – PDF
Karl Marx – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Karl Marx – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – PDF
Karl Marx – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – Audio 3 – PDF
Karl Marx – Review (sorta) – Audio 1 – Audio 2 – Audio 3 – Bonus – PDF
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels – Review (sorta) – Audio – PDF – Further Writings
Karl Marx – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Audio – PDF
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels – Review (sorta) – PDF – Further Writings
Lumpen: the Autobiography of Ed Mead
Ed Mead – Review – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus
Nonviolence Ain’t What It Used To Be
Shon Meckfessel – Twitter – Bonus – Bonus – Review (sorta)
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
China Mieville – Review – Review – Review – Bonus
Breaking Things At Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job
Gavin Mueller – Twitter – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus
New Forms of Worker Organization
Immanuel Ness (Ed) – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Immanuel Ness, Dario Azzellini – Review – Bonus
George Orwell – Review – Review – Review – Bonus – Audio – PDF
Rights of Man, Common Sense and Other Political Writings
Thomas Paine – Review (sorta) – PDF 1 – PDF 2 – Bonus
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People’s History of Ancient Rome
Michael Parenti – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Audio
Blackshirts & Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
Michael Parenti – Review – Margin Notes – Bonus – Audio – PDF
The People’s Republic of Walmart
Leigh Phillips, Michal Rozworski – Review – Review – Bonus
Property is Theft!: A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Anthology
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Iain McKay (editor) – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Class Notes: Posing As Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene
Adolph Reed Jr – Review – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
The Wobblies: The Story of the IWW & Syndicalism in the United States
Patrick Renshaw – Review (sorta) – Blurb – Bonus 1 – Bonus 2 – PDF
Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition
Cedric J. Robinson – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory & Practice
Rudolph Rocker – Review – Review – Margin Notes – PDF – Further Writings
The Russian Revolution: A View from the Third World
Walter Rodney – Bonus – Review – Review – Bonus – Further Writings
Joe Hill: The IWW the Making of a Revolutionary Workingclass Counterculture
Franklin Rosemont – Bio – Review – Bonus – Bonus
Assata Shakur – Review – Margin Notes – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Philosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacy
Devin Zane Shaw – Twitter – Review (sorta) – Bonus – Bonus
Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States
Sharon Smith – Review – Bonus – Excerpts – PDF
A People’s Guide to Capitalism
Hadas Thier – Twitter – Review – Review – Review – Bonus
Black Power: the Politics of Liberation
Kwame Ture, Charles V. Hamilton – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan-Africanism
Kwame Ture – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Bonus
The Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going?
Leon Trotsky – Bio – Bonus – Review – PDF – Further Writings
Marxists in the Face of Fascism
Various – Review
Nicaragua: Speeches by Sandinista Leaders
Various – No Review
Damned Fools in Utopia: And Other Writings on Anarchism and War Resistance
Nicolas Walter – Bio – Obit – Further Writings
Cornel West – Website – Blurb – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Jakobi Williams – Review – Counterpoint – Bonus
Between the Bullet and the Lie: Essays on Orwell
Kristian Williams – Introduction – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Additional Writings
Resist Everything Except Temptation: The Anarchist Philosophy of Oscar Wilde
Kristian Williams – Website – Review – Bonus – Bonus – Interview
Alan Woods, Rob Sewell – Blurb – Introduction – PDF
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, Alex Haley – Review – Bonus – Bonus – PDF
Malcolm X – Blurb – Bonus – Bonus – Background – PDF
Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism
Slavoj Žižek – Review – Counterpoint – PDF
Below the Cut
The plain truth is that if you’re going to build a truly diverse, ultimately subversive library, you will eventually end up with some books you wish you hadn’t purchased. While I’m a big believer in the theory that there are objectively no worthless books, as always, there’s a full “caveat emptor” policy in effect here on NIDC for books below the cut line.
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals
Saul D. Alinsky – Review – Caveat Emptor
Parliament vs People: An Essay On Democracy And Canadian Political Culture
Philip Resnick – Review – Caveat Emptor
Bertrand Russell – Review (sorta) – Caveat Emptor
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