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Bakunin: The Creative Passion (Hardcover)

~ Mark Leier (Author)
Key Phrases: consistent reactionaries, General Council, Alexander Bakunin, Michael Bakunin (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The life of Bakunin (1814–1876), the Russian architect of the anarchist movement, provides a surprisingly enjoyable introduction to the tumult of 19th-century radicalism. However, Leier's account of Bakunin's evolution from a jingoistic cadet to the man who proclaimed "if there is a state there is necessarily... slavery" focuses more on the thinker than the personality; one wishes for more glimpses of the man behind the ideas. A military officer turned philosopher, Bakunin could discuss Hegel or man a barricade with equal aplomb. He rubbed shoulders with George Sand in 1844 Paris, served in working-men's militias in Paris and Dresden, spent harrowing months shackled to prison walls in Dresden, Prague and Russia, and finally made a daring escape from Siberian exile in 1861 to (eventually) Italy. A chapter on the roots of Bakunin's thought in German idealism provides a lucid eight-page précis of Hegel's ideas that's actually fun to read. The feud between Bakunin and Marx gets ample space. Occasionally, Leier falls into jarring slang, and what he sees as the optimism of anarchy may seem like naïveté to others. But he brings welcome consideration to the real merits of the movement's theory. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Leier enthusiastically parses the great anarchist's writings and argues that anarchism is largely misunderstood as an ideology. Bakunin's vision was superficially similar to Marx's workers' utopia but differed in important aspects, such as the role of central government. "Bakunin's revolutionary society would exist not to dominate or control the masses, but to prevent them from being co-opted by others." Leier generally dismisses Bakunin's adversaries but amply attends to the anarchist's frequent and eloquent conflicts with Marx. Bakunin believed that a successful revolution of the people would result in the "triumph of individuals" and the demise of the socialist movement, putting Marx out of work. Leier is best when explaining Bakunin's words and thoughts and, although he provides some information about Bakunin's upbringing and family, scants personal details (the hypothesis that sexual dysfunction played a part in Bakunin's endeavors is aired and rejected). Unfailingly informative, nevertheless, and frequently exciting, Leier's biography reintroduces a fascinating revolutionary, knowledge of whose ideas helps one place such recent phenomena as the World Trade Organization protests in meaningful historical context. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (August 22, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312305389
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312305383
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,349,073 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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James Mark Leier
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
consistent reactionaries
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
General Council, Alexander Bakunin, Michael Bakunin, French Revolution, United States, Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx, Third Section, International Working Men's Association, Western Europe, Young Russia, Paris Commune, Left Hegelians, New York, San Francisco, Alexander Herzen, Catherine the Great, First International, Marshall Shatz, North America, Peter the Great, Revolutionary Catechism, Adam Smith, Carlo Gambuzzi, Crimean War
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3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful bio, December 15, 2008
This is a fast-paced, informative, historical and witty work.

It should have a wider readership than it does currently. The first reviewer's criticism of current references seems misguided, as Bakunin is relevant TODAY.
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19 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly bad, January 17, 2007
By MJS "Constant Reader" (New York, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
What can one say about an allegedly ground-breaking biography of a major 19th-century political theorist in which the author feels the need to mention Catherine Zeta-Jones, William Safire and John Grisham? Saying very little would be the polite option but to spare any unsuspecting readers the pain and sheer-disbelief that a few pages of this book can inflict compels me to say a bit more. Leier takes the father of anarchism and his turbulent times and turns it into one long strange and boring trip. After helpfully pointing out that May-December marriages (such as in the case of Bakunin's parents) aren't new or shocking, he uses the example of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas to reinforce his point. Huh? First of all, the point didn't need reinforcing and second, what do two Hollywood actors have to do with the minor aristocracy of Russia? It gets weirder. Leier wears his politics on his sleeve, which is fine, but without providing any of the insight a distinct point of view should provide, such as Eric Hobsbawm does in everything he writes. If you want a laugh, read Leier's explanation of capitalism early in the book, it's so ham-handed even life-long socialists will find themselves brimming with affection for serf-masters. The low point, however, is when Leier decides to settle the score with some obscure fellow academic by criticizing his writing style as dull and turgid, then favorably comparing it to John Grisham when compared to one of Bakunin's contemporaries. That's right, a serious academic holding up John Grisham as a master of lucid prose. That's when I stopped reading.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Much Greater Than a Biography, August 19, 2009
I grabbed this book to satisfy my on-again off-again interest in anarchy. It only took a few pages of Mark Leier's quirky writing style to grab my attention. I'm rarely a fan of biographies but this is certainly not your average. The author didn't create a chronologically arranged jumble of facts regarding a social revolutionary, but gave light to the lost concept of anarchism itself. The book is unapologetically sympathetic of Bakunin's theories and actions while simultaneously looking at the man critically and making no excuses for his downfalls. While Bakunin remains one of histories most controversial figures, Leier debunks many of the outlandish assumptions regarding the anarchist's life and political motivation. You don't just get a bio. but also a drama as the early rift between communism and anarchism begins to arise, a philosophical exercise as the works of Hegel and other leading intellectuals who influenced Bakunin are analyzed, and of course the ever prevalent love stories that follow the Russian nobel throughout his life. The book covers so much that at times you forget you're reading a biography until the author carefully loops the focus back to the man. The amount of information is simply staggering. You will finish this book feeling not only well versed on anarchism and the life of Bakunin but also on every social upheaval in Europe that occurred in Bakunin's lifetime. No detail is too small to mention if it had even the most miniscule impact on the revolutionary's life.

The book can be dry at times but Leier's sarcastic humor will keep you smiling. Well worth the read for anyone interested in Bakunin, anarchism, or the social movements of the 19th century.
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