In the United States between 1914 and 1920, the greatest armed revolutionary offensive of the 20th century was unleashed against the governmental, judicial, industrial and financial institutions of the most important capitalist country on the planet. These direct actions weren’t the work of the militant factions of a political party or of a more or less radical mass movement, but of a handful of anarchists who had emigrated from Italy at the turn of the century. It was from this context that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti came, sadly famous their execution on the electric chair in 1927.

The bad example for posterity is why the direct actions of these immigrant subversives have fallen into the hands of those who have every interest in pacifying, hiding and slandering them. But against all political realism, these anarchists, despite their limited numbers attacked all authority. Against all odds, they refused to resign to their limited means and stubbornly strove to overcome them. Against all illusory idealism, they did not hesitate to resort to violence. Against all strategic compromises, they never gave up their dreams. Against all clichés, they never set individual freedom against the need for association. Here a genuine ethic of life was forged out of love for freedom and the hatred of power, in defiance of any political ideology. It was here that the spark was ignited between dreams and reality, love and revolt, kisses and dynamite, roses and barricades, which characterized the “good war” of these Italian anarchists.

A history that knows neither authority nor obedience.

Roofdruk/Compass editions, January 2024, 336 pages // 12 euros

 

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