Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Vol. 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 [Paperback]

Emma Goldman (Author), Candace Falk (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2008

Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years reconstructs the life of Emma Goldman through significant texts and documents. These volumes collect personal letters, lecture notes, newspaper articles, court transcripts, government surveillance reports, and numerous other documents, many of which appear here in English for the first time. Supplemented with thorough annotations, multiple appendixes, and detailed chronologies, the texts bring to life the memory of this singular, pivotal figure in American and European radical history.

Volume 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 introduces readers to the young Emma Goldman as she begins her association with the international anarchist movement and especially with the German, Jewish, and Italian immigrant radicals in New York City. From early on, Goldman's movement through political and intellectual circles is marked by violence, from the attempted murder of industrialist Henry Clay Frick by Goldman's lover, Alexander Berkman, to the assassination of President William McKinley, in which Goldman was falsely implicated. The documents surrounding these events illuminate Goldman's struggle to balance anarchism's positive gains and its destructive costs. This volume introduces many of the themes that would pervade much of Goldman's later writings and speeches: the untold possibilities of anarchism; the transformative power of literature; the interplay of human relationships; and the importance of free speech, education, labor, women's freedom, and radical social reform.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book definitely shows better than any work previously published, including Goldman's own autobiography, her splendid achievement during this early decade as an emerging anarchist."--Dennis G. Dalton, Forward

"This book's real achievement is that alongside the rich and detailed picture of Goldman's life and ideas we are given a much clearer view of her comrades and the movement they built."--John Patten, Anarchist Studies

"A vast sourcebook of fascinating newspaper articles, letters, trial transcripts, and speeches . . . especially instructive in today's climate of constricted civil liberties."--Chris Dodge, Utne Reader

Book Description

Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years reconstructs the life of Emma Goldman through significant texts and documents. These volumes collect personal letters, lecture notes, newspaper articles, court transcripts, government surveillance reports, and numerous other documents, many of which appear here in English for the first time. Supplemented with thorough annotations, multiple appendixes, and detailed chronologies, the texts bring to life the memory of this singular, pivotal figure in American and European radical history.

Volume 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 introduces readers to the young Emma Goldman as she begins her association with the international anarchist movement and especially with the German, Jewish, and Italian immigrant radicals in New York City. From early on, Goldman's movement through political and intellectual circles is marked by violence, from the attempted murder of industrialist Henry Clay Frick by Goldman's lover, Alexander Berkman, to the assassination of President William McKinley, in which Goldman was falsely implicated. The documents surrounding these events illuminate Goldman's struggle to balance anarchism's positive gains and its destructive costs. This volume introduces many of the themes that would pervade much of Goldman's later writings and speeches: the untold possibilities of anarchism; the transformative power of literature; the interplay of human relationships; and the importance of free speech, education, labor, women's freedom, and radical social reform.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (July 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252075412
• ISBN-13: 978-0252075414
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,084,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)