Welcome to the Kate Sharpley Library
The Kate Sharpley Library exists to preserve and promote anarchist history. (More information.)
Everything at the Kate Sharpley Library - acquisitions, cataloguing, preservation work, publishing, answering enquiries is done by volunteers: we get no money from governments or the business community. All our running costs are met by donations from members of the collective, subscribers and supporters, or by the small income we make through publishing. Please consider donating and subscribing.
We also try to promote the history of anarchism by publishing studies based on those materials - or reprints of original documents taken from our collection. Check out our books and pamphlets available for sale or explore our online documents or browse back issues of our Bulletin.
Our physical library (in California) includes books, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts and ephemera documenting the history of anarchist movements. Contact us to arrange a visit.
Recent news
Infamous Anarchist club needs your help [1 in 12, Bradford]
Bradford’s long running anarchist 1 in 12 Club in set for closure unless it can get the building up to fire standard regulations. They have just six weeks left in refurbishing the entire place and are calling upon the UK anarchist movement to roll up their sleeves and chip in. If you have time, money, skills and a bit of solidarity then Bradford is the place for you in the next few weeks.
Best place to go for up to date news on the work is their website http://www.1in12.com/
"Many thanks for the support we are receiving, we are well on the way to keeping our 30 years of music and mayhem alive and kicking into the future."
October 2011 Kate Sharpley Library bulletin online
KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 68, October 2011 has just been posted on the site. You can get to the contents here or read the full pdf here.
This issue contains a previously unpublished piece by Emma Goldman on The Political Soviet Grinding Machine.
Marking our latest publication, this bulletin also features The story of the Iron Column by Abel Paz published: a personal view
Other contents:
Matt Kavanagh letter to Tom Keell
Facerías :
Urban Guerrilla Warfare (1939-1957) ; The Libertarian Movement's
Struggle Against Francoism in Spain and in Exile by Antonio Téllez Solà
[Book Review]
History of a Guerilla Band: The three Jubiles brothers by Antonio Téllez Solà
Brief obituary of Ángel Artigot by Teruel CNT.
London Anarchist Bookfair 2011
This weekend sees the 2011 London Anarchist Bookfair. It will be at
Queen Mary's, University of London on the Mile End Road. The date is
Saturday 22nd October from 10am to 7pm. www.anarchistbookfair.org.uk
See you there!
Iron Column by Abel Paz printed
The story of the Iron Column: militant anarchism in the Spanish Civil War by Abel Paz, a Kate Sharpley Library copublication with AK Press, is back from the printers.
If you can't wait until we get copies, AK are already selling it at: http://www.akpress.org/2011/items/storyoftheironcolumn
[Update: this response has just been published:] The story of the Iron Column by Abel Paz published: a personal view
New publication: Anarchism In Galicia : Organisation, Resistance and Women in the Underground
The Anarchist movement in Galicia is unknown to English-language readers. These essays tells the stories of the men and women who built it, fought for it, and how they kept it alive in the face of incredible odds.
‘The FAI in Galicia’ by Eliseo Fernández gives a brief history of Galician anarchism before the foundation of the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica: Iberian Anarchist Federation) in 1927. It goes on to detail the structure and activities of the FAI in Galicia, and shows how the tensions and tactical disagreements within Spanish anarchism played out at a local level, including within the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo: National Confederation of Labour).
‘Vigo 1936’ by Antón Briallos records the desperate – and ultimately unsuccessful – battle in the streets against the fascist revolt of July 1936. Full biographical details of anarchists mentioned show the roots, structure and fate of the anarchist movement in Vigo before, during and after the Spanish Civil War.
‘The Anarchist Homes of Libertarian Women’ by Carmen Blanco tells how Galicia’s anarchist women sheltered other militants and were central to attempts to rebuild the anarchist movement. This tribute reveals the extent of their involvement and the terrible price they paid.
Contents:
The FAI in Galicia by Eliseo Fernández
Vigo 1936 by Antón Briallos
The Anarchist Homes of Libertarian Women (Anarchist Women’s Resistance in the Wake of the 1936 Fascist Revolt) by Carmen Blanco.
Edited and translated by Paul Sharkey. ISBN 9781873605127 Publication details and online review copy