"To understand anarchism, it is necessary to go beyond the caricature presented by the media. In this new biography of Michael Bakunin, Mark Leier traces the life and ideas of anarchism's first major thinker, and reveals the origins of the movement." "There was little in Bakunin's background to suggest that he would grow up to be anything other than a loyal subject of the Russian Empire. Instead, he became one the most notorious radicals of the nineteenth century, devoting his life to the destruction of the tsar and feudalism, capitalism, the state, even God. In the process, he became a…
