Click on the image to purchase this book through Amazon.com. Purchases help support MediaMouse.org.
Sacco and Vanzetti are probably the two most well-known anarchists in US history, about the only time anarchism is mentioned in most textbooks, whether at the high school or university level, is within the context of the Sacco and Vanzetti case, or more rarely, with the assassination of President McKinley by an supposed anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. The fact that these three are the most well-known anarchists, has gone a long ways towards reinforcing the stereotype that first emerged in the late 1800s that anarchism means little more than throwing bombs and advocating “propaganda by deed.”
Avrich’s examination of Sacco and Vanzetti does not focus on their trial; but rather, on the Italian anarchist milieu in the United States in which Sacco and Vanzetti were active participants. As a result, this book is a valuable look a side of anarchism that certainly contributed to both the public suspicion of anarchism and the difficulties faced by contemporary anarchists in moving anarchism beyond the extreme margins of society. For this book, Avrich examined a number of Italian sources from both the Italian anarchist movement in the United States and Italy and as a result, he was able to develop a well-documented history of the Galleanist anarchist movement. The Galleanists were a group of Italian anarchists that coalesced around Luigi Galleani, forming one of the most militant anarchist sects in the United States.
In explicating the Galleanist movement and Sacoo and Vanzetti’s role in that movement, Avrich makes it clear that while Sacco and Vanzetti were quite likely innocent of the robbery they were put to death for, they were active participants in the Galleanist movement, and consequently, likely played a role in the series of bombings undertaken by that movement during the 1910s and 1920s. Those who are interested in Sacco and Vanzetti themselves will probably not find this book all that helpful, as it primarily focuses on the movement in which they participated. However, that makes it an incredibly important book for people interested in the history of anarchism in the United States. While Avrich’s focus on Sacco and Vanzetti is limited, anyone who is seriously interested in understanding the Sacco and Vanzetti case must take into account their involvement in the Italian anarchist movement and this is the only book I am aware of that gives that context.
Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background
Related posts:
- All-American Anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the Labor Movement
- A New World In Our Hearts: 8 Years of Writings from the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation
- Interview with Joe Sacco
- Osugi Sakae: Anarchist in Taisho Japan
- A Soldier's Story: Writings by a Revolutionary New Afrikan Anarchist
