Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism [Hardcover]

Peter H. Marshall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1991

Anarchism is a philosophical and political creed which many individuals have subscribed to over the centuries, and for which many have been persecuted by other more authoritive ideologies like fascism and state socialism. There have been anarchist-inspired revolutions - in Spain, in the Ukraine, in Mexico - which have in turn led to (however short-lived) anarchist administrations. But anarchism's power has, first and foremost, been the power of the lone protestor, the dissenter who is unafraid to expose himself to reprisal for the sake of preaching the real gospel of liberty, equality and fraternity which so many so-called revolutionaries usually leave in tatters once they graduate from barricades to corridors of power. The author argues that the spirit of anarchism is in the voice of Tolstoy, of Gandhi, of Bakunin and of Godwin, of Camus and of Chomsky.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The goal of an egalitarian, communal society has always united Marxists and leftist socialists, some of the latter (often if not always described as anarchists) refusing any truck with centralized power At various times, such ideas have found relatively wide appeal, and this era is one—expressed for instance in the antiglobalization movement's emphases on local control and direct democracy—making Marshall's comprehensive treatment a timely read. Newly revised and updated, this indispensable history of social libertarian thought now reaches into the 21st century—touching upon themes echoed in other recent titles, including Raj Patel's The Value of Nothing. Marshall casts a wide net, gathering all traces of antiauthoritarian socialist thought in works from Lao Tzu through Noam Chomsky, social ecology, and the Zapatistas. Readers will be repeatedly rewarded by Marshall's judiciousness and close readings of both the great names in anarchist history—Proudhon, Kropotkin, and Tolstoy—and less expected contributors—Rousseau, Swift, and Burke. Blowing away cobwebs of misunderstanding and misrepresentation, this is a stimulating portrait of a highly varied but distinctive political ideal, tradition, and practice arising from the enduring human impulse to be free. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

'Massive, scholarly, genuinely internationalist and highly enjoyable.' David Widgery, Observer 'An exhaustive and authoritative study which is bound to become the standard account.' John Gray, The Times 'Indispensable.' Richard Boston, Guardian 'This is the most comprehensive account of anarchist thought ever written. Marshall's knowledge is formidable and his enthusiasm engaging.' J.P. Pick, Scotsman 'Large, labyrinthine, tentative: for me these are all adjectives of praise when applied to works of history, and Demanding the Impossible meets all of them.' George Woodcock, Independent 'I trust that Marshall's survey of the whole heart-warming, head-challenging subject will have a large circulation!It is a handbook of real history, which should make it more valuable in the long run than all the mighty textbooks on market economics and such-like ephemeral topics.' Michael Foot, Evening Standard 'Reading about anarchism is stimulating, funny and sad. What more can you ask of a book?' Isabel Colegate, The Times 'Interest in anarchy!was reawakened by the publication of Peter Marshall's massively comprehensive "Demanding the Impossible", a brick-sized history that received rave reviews.' Peter Beaumont, Observer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 767 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; First Edition edition (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002178559
• ISBN-13: 978-0002178556
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,036,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and intelligently written survey, October 8, 2000

By 

TheIrrationalMan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism (Hardcover)

Although the pioneering work of anarchist history was Woodcock's relatively tiny volume "Anarchism", Marshall demonstrates with this revision that the torch has passed from Woodcock to him. What is most satisfying in this edition is that, although Marshall's sympathies are unambiguously anarchist, he manages to offer a very balanced, clear, objective, helpful historical account, combined with admirably critical insights. Written in 1991, it has an added value for being reasonably recent, as previous scholarship on the subject is by now mostly dated. "Demanding the Impossible" is superior also because of its sheer bulk: 700+ information-packed pages. Not merely confining himself to looking at anarchism as an ideology, Marshall spans a period starting from Buddhism and Taoism, to ancient Greece and Christianity, up to the present and offers a rich and powerful exposition of these cultural phenomena and the ways in which they prefigure anarchistic ideas, to form a many-streamed "river of anarchy". In addition, there are explorations of modern anarchism in action in Russia and the Ukraine, Asia, Northern Europe and the United States, among many other countries across the globe. Other chapters include surveys and critiques of the major classical anarchist thinkers -- Mikhail Bakunin, Count Leo Tolstoy, Max Stirner, William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Prince Kropotkin -- as well as examinations of libertarian movements and thinkers allied to anarchism, such as Wilhelm von Humboldt, Nietzsche, J.S. Mill, Herbert Spencer, the existentialists Sartre and Camus, The New Left, the hippy Counterculture, Right Libertarianism, the work of Michel Foucault, and so forth. Extremely accessible account overall.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction, But Limited by Author's Idiosyncratic Views, April 4, 2011

By 

Brian Carnell (Kalamazoo, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism (Paperback)

Overall, an excellent overview of anarchism that is well worth reading. Glad I bought it and enjoyed reading it.

However, at times the author goes from chronicling the views of individual anarchists (and opponents) to coming down on one side or another of a debate. This itself would be useful, except the author seems to give short shrift to views he doesn't share.

For example, take Murray Bookchin's criticisms of deep ecology. Marshall simply treats Bookchin's criticisms as untenable and treats Bookchin's disagreements with the deep ecologists as an example of how Bookchin "laments our alienation from nature ... but he would still appear to be a victim of the process."

Perhaps if the subtitle of "Demanding the Impossible" had been "An Evaluation and Critique of Anarchism" rather than "A History of Anarchism" this wouldn't have been so jarring, but it left me wondering (as someone not overly familiar with anarchist thinking and debates) how much of his history is colored by his own personal views on what is and is not anarchism proper.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A broad, inclusive survey of anarchist thought and thinkers, January 14, 1998

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[e-mail] (Vancouver, BC [Canada]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism (Hardcover)

This book was absolutely excellent. Complete in almost every way, it covered every major anarchist thinker, almost every anarchist stream of thought, and anarchist history by nation. The book was very objective, unbiased and *extremely* comprehensive, and as such i feel that it is essential reading for any anarchist or student of anarchism.