Memoirs of a Revolutionist by Pyotr Kropotkin

Memoirs of a Revolutionist Reviews

• 
  Ilse

  
  
  

  First serialized in an American (!) magazine as ‘Autobiography of a Revolutionist’, this account of his life by the anarchist, pacifist and scientist Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was published in England in 1899. It draws an exquisite depiction of tsarist Russia under the rule of tsar Alexander II (1855-1881 ), the movements advocating social and political change in Russia at that time and the development of socialist and anarchist activities and ideology in Switzerland, France and England, in the aftermath of the crushing of the Paris Commune in 1871.

  
  

  Both the man himself, his ideas and his first hand portrayal of the mid 19th century Russian and European social fermentations make this a compelling read, a document of historical interest, highly inspiring, whatever one’s political adherence.

  
  

  Kropotkin rises from his writings almost an atheist saint, a magnanimous, engaging, kindhearted man, highly intelligent and erudite, a lover of poetry, art and literature.

  
  

  From aristocratic descent, like
  Bakunin, Kropotkin relates on the shaping of his mind through his growing social consciousness, first as a moderate liberalist, trying to change the system from within in Siberia, rejecting the military career expected from him by his family and class, over embracing socialism, to finally dedicating his life to the benefit of the anarchist movement, both in word and deed, abandoning a promising career as a scientist and geographer:

  
  

  Science is an excellent thing. I knew its joys and valued them,—perhaps more than many of my colleagues did. (…). But what right had I to these highest joys, when all around me was nothing but misery and struggle for a mouldy bit of bread; when whatsoever I should spend to enable me to live in that world of higher emotions must needs be taken from the very mouths of those who grew the wheat and had not bread enough for their children? From somebody’s mouth it must be taken, because the aggregate production of mankind remains still so low.
  

  Knowledge is an immense power. Man must know. But we already know much! What if that knowledge—and only that—should become the possession of all? Would not science itself progress in leaps, and cause mankind to make strides in production, invention, and social creation, of which we are hardly in a condition now to measure the speed?

  
  

  The masses want to know: they are willing to learn; they can learn. There, on the crest of that immense moraine which runs between the lakes, as if giants had heaped it up in a hurry to connect the two shores, there stands a Finnish peasant plunged in contemplation of the beautiful lakes, studded with islands, which lie before him. Not one of these peasants, poor and downtrodden though they may be, will pass this spot without stopping to admire the scene. Or there, on the shore of a lake, stands another peasant, and sings something so beautiful that the best musician would envy him his melody, for its feeling and its meditative power. Both deeply feel, both meditate, both think; they are ready to widen their knowledge,—only give it to them, only give them the means of getting leisure.

  
  

  This is the direction in which, and these are the kind of people for whom, I must work. All those sonorous phrases about making mankind progress, while at the same time the progress-makers stand aloof from those whom they pretend to push onwards, are mere sophisms made up by minds anxious to shake off a fretting contradiction.”

  
  
  There are no cynicism or bitterness in his words, neither sentimentality or romanticizing of the revolutionary struggle - however his glozing over the disputes in the radical factions - nor is it agit-prop for the converted. I admire the courage, hope and unflagging belief in mankind these memoirs exhale. At the risk to be cast away as some beate hagiographer of Kropotkin, I see a great level of cuddliness in this charming, sensitive man. Without detracting his uniqueness, I could quite endorse Nicolas Walter ‘s observation in the preface that ‘we need more Kropotkins’.
  
  Almost exclusively concentrating on his life in the outside world and his thoughts, the memoirs do not disclose on his family life, except for his relationship with his brother. Rather impressive are his surprisingly topical insights on the atrocities of the penal system and the paradoxical effects of prisons (“universities of crime, maintained by the state”), as well as his remarkable protofeminist views (whereas other revolutionary thinkers like Proudhon and Rousseau are commonly known as notorious misogynists). Also interesting is his virulent rejection of the then emerging curse of social Darwinism, triggering him to write his major work
  Mutual Aid (1902), in which he argued that, despite the Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest, cooperation rather than conflict is the chief factor in the evolution of species, among humans as well as animals. Providing abundant examples from the animal world, he stated that sociability is a dominant feature at every level, mutual aid the rule rather than the exception.
  
  As Kropotkin’s memoirs cover only a part of his assiduous and laborious life, focusing largely on the first 45 years, touching only roughly the years of exile in England and not comprising his most important works he was yet to write after 1886, it is worthwhile to read a concise survey on his life, thoughts and works that extends to his death in 1921;
  Kropotkin: The Anarchist Formerly Known as Prince is a good supplementary read, e.g. revealing that Kropotkin fell from grace with his fellow anarchist travellers, tumbling down from his hero-like internationalist and pacifistic pedestal by supporting the Allies (thus even Tsarist Russia), at the outbreak of WWI in 1914 (till the withdrawal of Russia from the war with the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in 1917) and his – disregarded - warnings for the tyranny of state socialism and bureaucracy in 1919.
  

  Imagine him, working on some geographical and geological contributions to the Encyclopaedia Britannica during his captivity in French prisons, or trying to keep sane by reading and writing on his glacial theory while imprisoned in the gloomy Peter and Paul Fortress, recalling the ominous legend of the unfortunate imposter princess Tarakanova, perishing there amongst the fleeing rats, as in the dramatic painting by Konstantin Flavitsky in 1864.

  
  
  
  
  Nicolas Walter equated Kropotkin’s position on later age to Voltaire’s and Tolstoy’s before and Pasternak’s and Russell’s after him: a subversive intellectual who was too obstinate to tame and too famous to silence, and who was important no longer for what he actually said or did as for what he stood for.
  
  A truly fascinating man.
  
  The full text of the memoirs can be found
  here.
• 
  Orhan Pelinkovic

  Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) narrates the first half of his life in his Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899) through historical events, ideals, and people he was surrounded by while occasionally sharing his inner thoughts and contemplations. He unveils the accounts of his life, which seem credible and never exaggerated, that left the greatest impression on him emotionally and the circumstances, travel and attained knowledge that formulated his thoughts which led him to become the most famous anarchist in the world by 1886.
  
  Kropotkin was born and brought up in a Russian aristocratic family in the affluent Old Equerries Quarter of Moscow. He was homeschooled throughout his childhood by French, German, and Russian teachers and grew up surrounded by books where he developed his love for reading. Respecting his father's wishes he attended the military academy in St. Petersburg, while after graduation, and not to his father's liking, spent the next five years in Siberia as a Cossack officer. His written illustrations of the Amur River, Manchurian flora, Lake Baikal, and his experiences in Siberia made me long for adventure. He later returned to St. Petersburg and enrolled at the university for scientific study and research which led him to achieve an important discovery in topography that rectified the inaccurately illustrated physical features of Asia; Kropotkin redrew the map of Asia.
  
  Even though Kropotkin was born into privilege with a status of a prince and became a prominent scientist, he decided to give it all up to improve the social and economical status of the peasants and labor workers. Kropotkin sacrificed his social status and personal safety for the benefit of all those in a society that were discriminated against.
  
  He dedicated the remainder of his life to raising the intellectual well-being and awareness of the peasants and labor class and participated in the development of the founding principles, organization, recruitment, and advocacy of the socialist movements of the 19th century in Western Europe and Russia.
  
  As a scientist and anarchist, he draws interesting parallels between political revolutions and human evolution. He presents nihilism in a positive light compared to the press of his time that labeled it as terrorism. His firsthand accounts of the cruelty and injustice of serfdom in Russia, as his father possessed 1,200 male serfs, were heart-wrenching while the chapters of his imprisonment and escape were exhilarating to read. Although, Kropotkin does not touch upon stories relating to any romantic involvements, neither his nor someone else's, but I am not sure if these accounts would have improved or possibly weakened the essence of the book? Nevertheless, he continuously expresses, throughout the book, his unconditional love for his older brother, Alexander, that at times he felt like the central character in some of the memoirs.
  
  Thank you, Ilse, for bringing this book and author to my attention. I enjoyed every single page and found Kropotkin's character, motives, and actions an embodiment of altruism at its finest. This read broadened my perspective of anarchism and in addition, I become more acquainted with this historical period that's rich with theories of social organization.
  
  (4.5/5.0)
• 
  J.M. Hushour

  There's a lot of reasons to love these memoirs. First of all, the outstandingly-bearded Kropotkin is, quite simply one of the nicest humans ever. Anarchy, that is, actual anarchy as he postulated it, has more to do with helping other people, sharing, and trying to forge some sort of common sense of decency. That he wasn't ranting all of this in a beret while sitting at Starbucks makes his so-called proponents all the more insufferable.
  But better than that, this is a finely written autobiography of probably one of the most interesting times in European history, Russia from, say, Pushkin's death to Dostoevsky's. The sheer amount of political vivacity and liveliness is amazing, considering in what conditions these folks were writing and debating. Kropotkin himself, a noble-turned-anarchist is one end of the extreme and his details of life during this period never fail to be interesting. He met the tsar multiple times! He explored Ussuriland! He lived in western Europe as an exile!
  Engaging stuff from a hirsute master.
  
• 
  Bryn Hammond

  The Russian nineteenth century I have had down as the most interesting century that ever was. These memoirs are extremely readable. Highlights include his moving pages on the abolition of serfdom; his rather exciting escape from prison; his unstinting admiration for revolutionary women; and a crowd of incidents, tragedies, idealism, bravery in suffering, that might be told in a paragraph each, but that strike home the more truly for not being overdrawn. Amazing times. Warmly recommended.
• 
  Andrea

  Kropotkin: geographer, former aristocrat, anarchist revolutionary. This is a fascinating glimpse into Russia before the revolution through his childhood, into the intellectual development of someone seeking to understand their own position and privilege in the world, and their attempts to transform it. Also many insights to a branch of anarchism I quite like, and a study of how cooperation is as common as competition in the world. Much of this book was unexpected.
  
  Some quotes:
  

  Besides, I began gradually to understand that revolutions, i.e. periods of accelerated rapid evolution and rapid changes, are as much in the nature of human society as the slow evolution which incessantly goes on now among the civilized races of mankind. And each time that such a period of accelerated evolution and thorough reconstruction begins, civil war may break out on a small or on a grand scale. The question is, then, not so much how to avoid revolutions as how to attain teh greatest results with the most limited amount of civil war, teh least number of victims, and a minimum of mutual embitterment. For that end there is only one means; namely, that the oppressed part of society should obtain the clearest possible conception of what they intend to achieve and how, and that they should be imbued with the enthusiasm which is necessary for the achievement--in which case they will be sure to attract to their cause which is possessed of historically grown-up privileges.
  The Commune of Paris was a terrible example of an outbreak with yet undetermined ideals. (270)

  
  After his escape from Russia:
  

  ...later on, when the Russian movement became a conspiracy and an armed struggle against the representative of autocracy, all thought of a popular movement was necessarily abandoned; while my own inclinations drew me more and more intensely toward casting in my lot with the laboring and toiling masses. To bring to them such conceptions as would aid them to direct their efforts to the best advantage of all the workers; to deepen and to widen the ideals and principles which will underlie the coming social revolution; to develop these ideals and principles before the workers, not as an order coming from their leaders, but as a result of their own reason; and so to awaken their own initiative, now that they were called upon to appear in the historical arena as the builders of a new, equitable mode of organization of society--thsi seemed to me as necessary for the development of mankind as anything I could accomplish in Russia at that time. (354)

  
  On the Jura Federation and parties:
  

  It always happens that after a political party has set before itself a purpose, and has proclaimed that nothing short of the complete attainment of that aim will satisfy it, it divides into two fractions. One of them remains what it was, while the other, although it professes not to have changed a word of its previous intentions, accepts some sort of compromise, and gradually, from compromise to compromise, is driven further from its primitive programme, and becomes a party of modest makeshift reform (358).

  
  On the International Working Man's Association:
  

  The workers of all nations were called upon to form their own organisations for a direct struggle against capitalism; to work out the means of socializing the production of wealth and its consumption; and, when they should be ready to do so, to take possession of tthe necessaries for production, and to control production with no regard to the present political organization, which must undergo a complete reconstruction. The Association had thus to be the means for preparing an immense revolution in men's minds, and later on in the very forms of life--a revolution which would open to mankind a new era of progress based upon the solidarity of all. That was the ideal which aroused from their slumber millions of European workers, and attracted to the Association its best intellectual forces. (359)

  
  

  The conflict between the Marxists and the Bakunists was not a personal affair. It was the necessary conflict between the principles of federalism and those of centralization, the free Commune and the State's paternal rule, the free action of the masses of the people and the betterment if existing capitalist conditions through legislation--a conflict between the Latin spirit and the German Geist, which, after the defeat of France on the battlefield, claimed supremacy in science, politics, philososphy, and in socialism too, representing its own conception of socialism as 'scientific', while all other interpretations it described as 'utopian'. (361)

  
  His vision of the future:
  

  We saw that a new form of society is germinating in the civilized nations, and must take the place of the old one: a society of equals, who will not be compelled to sell their hands and brains to those who choose to employ them in a haphazard way, but who will be able to apply their knowledge and capacities to production, in an organism so constructed as to combine all the efforts for procuring the greatest sum possible of well-being for all, while full, free scope will be left for every individual initiative. This society will be composed ofamultitude of associations federated for all the purposes which require federation: trade federations for production of all sorts-agricultural, industrial, intellectual, artistic; communes for consumption, making provision for dwellings, gas works, supplies of food, sanitary arrangements, etc.; federations of communes among themselves, and federations of communes with trade organizations; and finally, wider groups covering the country, or several countries, composed of men who collaborate for the satisfaction of such economic, intellectual, artistic, and moral needs as are not limited to a given territory...There will be full freedom for the development of new forms of production, invention, and organization; individual initiative will be encouraged, and the tendency toward uniformity and centralization will be discouraged.
  Moreover, this society will not be crystallized into certain unchangeable forms, but will continually modify its aspect, because it will be a living, evolving organism: (372)no need of government will be felt, because free agreement and federation can take its place in all those functions which governments consider as theirs at the present time, and because, the causes of conflict being reduced in number, those conflicts which may still arise can be submitted to arbitration.

  
  Long years of propaganda and a long succession of partial acts of revolt against authority, as well as a complete revision of the teachings now derived from history, would be required before men could perceive that they had been mistaken in attributing to their rulers and their laws what was derived in reality from their own sociable feelings and habits.(373)
  

  social life itself, supported by a frank, open-minded criticism of opinions and actions, would be the most effective means for threshing out opinions and divesting them of the unavoidable exaggerations. We acted, in fact, in accordance with the old saying that freedom remains still the wisest cure for freedom's temporary inconveniences. There is, in mankind, a nucleus of social habits, an inheritance from the past, not yet duly appreciated, which is not maintained by coercion and is superior to coercion... We understood, at the same time, that such a change, cannot be produced by the conjectures of one man of genius, that it will not be one man's discovery, but that it must result from the constructive work of the masses, just as the forms of judicial procedure which were elaborated in the early mediceval ages... (375)

  
  The role of science in social change:
  

  anarchism represents more than a mere mode of action and a mere conception of a free society; that it is part of a philosophy, natural and social, which must be developed in a quite different way from the metaphysical or dialectic methods which have been employed in sciences dealing with man. I saw that it must be treated by the same methods as natural sciences; not, however. on the slippery ground of mere analogies, such as Herbert Spenecer accepts, but on the solid basis of induction applied to human institutions. And I did my best to accomplish what I could in that direction. (377)

  
  The most fascinating of asides, on Turgenev's brain of all things:
  

  His fine head revealed a vast development of brain power, and when he died, and Paul Bert, with Paul Reclus (the surgeon), weighed his brain, it so much surpassed the heaviest brain then known-that of Cuvier-reaching something over two thousand grammes, that they would not trust to their scales, but got new ones, to repeat the weighing. (381)

  
  The role of revolutionary media:
  

  a revolutionary paper must be, above all, a record of those symptoms which everywhere announce the coming of a new era, the germination of new forms of social life, the growing revolt against antiquated institutions...(390) As to the criticism of what exists,
  I went into it only to disentangle the roots of the evils, and to show that a deep-seated and carefully-nurtured fetishism with regard to the antiquated survivals of phases of human development, and a widespread cowardice of mind and will, are the main sources of all evils (391).

  
  A fascinating read whatever your political pursuasions.
• 
  Turkish

  Я все еще не придвинулся ни на шаг к тому, чтобы понять, как по мнению анархистов работяги стран мира будут самоорганизовываться, но зато я понял, что Петр Алексеевич прямо таки солнечный человечек.
• 
  Pelin

  En çok Kropotkin'in doğayla ilgili düşüncelerinden etkilenmiştim. Hatta bazı şeylerin kafama dank etmesini sağladığı için hayatımı değiştiren kitaplardan biri. Yine de bugüne kadar okuduğumu unutmuş olmam ilginç.
  "İnsanın doğanın egemeni değil, onun sınırlı bir parçası olduğunu ve bu sınırlı parçada da doğa yasalarının geçerli olduğunu burada, Sibirya'da anladı Kropotkin. Bu nedenleydi ki, doğadaki uyum, sosyal dünyadaki uyumsuzluğu vurgulamakla kalmıyor, sanki onun düzenindeki anormalliği, ona yeni bir düzen verilmesinin gerekliliğini ve bunun olabilirliğini de vurguluyordu."
• 
  Sami Eerola

  One of the best autobiographies that i have read. Kropotkin is a excellent writer that invites the reader inside of his mind and life. You truly feel like you understand where he is coming from and what are his motivations to be a Anarchist.
  
  The amount of details Kropotkin gives about his environment also makes this book a excellent source of micro historical description of 1800's Russia and Europe. You truly feel that you are with him.
  
  The only problem in this book is that Kropotkin avoids talking about his wife. We do not know how they met and what was their life like? She just start to exist and is mentioned few times in passing. Almost like Kropotkin forgot he has a wife.
  
• 
  Micah

  A fascinating picture of Russia and early socialism. . . . the well-known episodes like the attempt of the Marxists to push the Latin federations out of the IWMA are of course discussed, but more interesting are the now-obscure episodes, the Polish revolt, the women's movement, the Nihilists (not at all what comes to mind when nihilism is discussed today), and the "V naród", "to the people" movement, which made a huge impression on Kropotkin. Sometimes one thinks of the 19th century as one of constant revolutionary ferment, but of course there were periods of reaction when a famous anarchist like Kropotkin would speak to a room of a half dozen people, even in France or Switzerland (which were then often hotbeds of the movement, and where propaganda wasn't necessarily illegal). It's striking that he continued his agitation with sincerity and commitment, until the tide eventually returned in his favor.
• 
  Chris Chapman

  An inspiring book about an inspiring life. A book that leaves you with renewed faith in human nature. He comes across as not only hugely intelligent, dynamic, and principled, but also a lovely, modest person. Be patient with the first chapters which talk about him growing up in a privileged family, which might not be what anarchists and other students of the Russian revolution are looking for. Although even here there are very interesting insights into what life was like in the elite, and the experiences that forged his radicalism. NB I listened to the (free) audiobook on Librivox. Not all the librivox recordings (which are done by volunteers) are very listenable, but this one was beautifully read. Recommended.
• 
  DoctorM

  A great political autobiography by an anarchist legend--- a Russian aristocrat turned anarchist theoretician whose life is just fascinating: palaces, military service, explorations in Siberia, scientific discoveries, radicalization, imprisonment, exile, escape, scientific and political controversies, wanderings. A brilliant read on so many grounds!
• 
  Sixten

  En bra bok. Kropotkin visar på den enskilda individens godhet och förmåga att förändra. Även när någon av bokens historiska figurer har begått vedervärdiga brott, visar Kropotkin fantastisk förståelse för deras situation med empati. Just genom denna kärlek till andra människor sätter han vind i seglen för sina livsåskådningar som omöjligen kan undanhållas från att lägga till vid läsarens sinne.
• 
  sevcc Vikram

  Nice
• 
  Taru Luojola

  Kymmenettä perjettä, alennuslaarista tai kirjaston poisto-/kierrätyshyllystä löytynyt elämäkerta, luin nämä Kropotkinin (tai kuten tässä vanhassa, vuonna 1910 julkaistussa käännöksessa on käytetty, Krapotkinin) muistelmat. Kirjan päätyminen omaan hyllyyni on tarina sinänsä. Porvoon uusi kirjasto avattiin helmikuussa 2000, ja joulukuussa 1999 vanhassa kaupunginkirjastossa myytiin urakalla poistokirjoja 20 pennillä kappale. Poistohyllyyn oli haalittu kaikki mahdolliset varastonpohjat, jotta muutettavaa olisi vähemmän. Nämä Kropotkinin muistelmat vetosivat minuun nimellään ja nuhjuisella ulkoasullaan — kirjan kannet ovat repeilleet ja selkämykset on ommeltu jotenkuten takaisin kiinni (teippiä ei kirjan korjauksen aikaan taidettu vielä tuntea). Sain siis tämän hienon kaksiosaisen teoksen itselleni 40 pennillä.
  
  Mutta se on ollut hyllyssäni lukematta tähän saakka — ja aivan suotta! Kirja nimittäin on mitä mainiointa kerrontaa. Osansa viehätykseen on varmasti vanhalla kielellä, joka on aina yhtä ihanaa (ja tässä lukija pääsee nautiskelemaan jopa metatasolla, sillä toteaahan Kropotkin eräänkin kerran seuraavasti: ”Ranskalaisten kronikkojen vanhanaikuinen lauserakennus ja kielen sisällökkyys tuotti minulle suurta esteetistä nautintoa.”), mutta Kropotkinin tyyli noin muutenkin on kertoa asiat vilpittömän kiertelemättä ja silti hyväntuulinen kare suupielissä. Kirja kertoo paljon enemmän elämästä Venäjällä ja Euroopassa yleensä kuin nimenomaan Kropotkinin elämästä. Samoista aiheista voi lukea paljon esimerkiksi Tolstoin romaaneista, mutta Kropotkinin muistelmista puuttuu kaikki se tarpeeton maalaisromantiikka ja yläluokkainen sentimentaalisuus, joka tekee Tolstoin kirjoista niin pitkäveteisiä. Niinpä esimerkiksi etenkin muistelmien ensimmäinen nide on mitä verrattominta kaunokirjallisuutta. Kerronnan vetävyys hieman rapisee jälkimmäisessä niteessä, mutta aivan viimeisillä sivuilla ote taas jämäköityy siihen malliin, että teoksen loppuun päästyään lukijan mieli on tyydyttynyt.
• 
  Luís Garcia

  Memoirs of a Revolutionist is, together with Kropotkin's "Mutual Aid", my favorite book.
  
  
  (lido em Outeiro da Cabeça, Portugal)
• 
  Nick Klagge

  This book is the memoir of Peter Kropotkin, a man who was born into the Russian aristocracy but became an anarchist. As the introduction to the book makes clear, the title (chosen by an editor to move copies) is quite misleading--there are few moments of action in the book, and none at all of "revolution" in the Che Guevara mold. Indeed, PK's preferred title for the book was "Around One's Life," which pretty much captures the level of action in the book. (The one exception is his narrative of his escape from a Czarist prison, which is just as exciting and crazy as you think it should be.)
  
  Kropotkin is generally revered as a very good person, and this book definitely supports that image. He is thoughtful, loyal, kind, and righteous. But I have to say that I enjoyed reading "The Conquest of Bread," where he explicitly discusses his anarchist views, more than this book, where those views play a critical but largely implicit role. I wasn't really convinced by TCOB, but I definitely felt engaged by it in a way that I didn't with this book. The main thing that I found completely bizarre is that PK mentions his wife only a couple of times in the book, with hardly any description of their relationship or of who she was. I'm sure it has something to do with the mores of the times, when "personal" things like romantic relationships weren't seen as appropriate for public consumption, but it just seems unthinkable to me that one's marriage wouldn't be a key element (for good or for ill) of one's life story--especially for a progressive and open-minded person such as PK.
  
  PS: Dad, I kept an eye out for the passage you asked about, but couldn't find it. Either it was from another book, or it was a much more general statement than you are remembering.
• 
  Sage

  This is a great portrait of Russia under late tsarist rule and parts of Europe in the earliest days of socialism. The first 3/4 are fairly riveting, while the ending falls kind of flat as happens in so many memoirs. Yes, it's the nature of the format. But he had a fascinating life and is a surprisingly engaging writer for having lived so long ago. There were several points where I wanted to hug him so much. And then others where I was really head-scratchy over his definition of Anarchism and how that has changed in modern context. I wonder if he would have felt the same toward a modern social democracy with a strong track record of justice and human rights.
  
  Isn't it fascinating that that didn't exist yet on a large scale in the known western world? (WTF feudalism?)
  
  gender politics tag because this was GORGEOUSLY feminist, even by modern standards, much less standards of the time. (WTF modern misogyny?)
• 
  Shea Mastison

  Kropotkin was very much a man of his times; but he was something more too. It would be irresponsible for me to criticize his socialism--the man was an extraordinary figure, who utilized the momentum of his times in a fight against tyranny. Only time and real life occurrences could've shown the primacy of individualism in any well functioning social system: Kropotkin worked with what he had.
  This was a pretty good book; showing the human (and quite likable) side of a legendary Russian revolutionary figure.
• 
  Murgatroyd

  He was such an inspirational person. There's nothing I can say that could do him justice. The only thing, though: do not read this book at the same time or before reading Fathers and Sons by Turgenyev because Kill-joy Kropotkin totally spoils the ending! What a jerk!
• 
  Isaak Lagerman

  # Anteckningar under bokens gång
  
  En av hans berättelser slog verkligen ann en ton av orättvisa inom mig som jag inte riktigt skakat av mig ännu. Trots att det var länge sen jag läste den nu. Hans far hade en livegen som betjänade honom i ett av de meningslösa krig Ryssland involverat sig i under 1800-talet. Denna livegen, vars namn jag nu glömt, riskerade sitt liv och uppvisade ett stort mått mod vid och räddade någons liv vid ett tillfälle. För händelsen belönades fadern med en medalj. Anledningen att sönerna, börderna Kropotkin, fick kännedom om det var eftersom fadern skröt om sin utmärkelse. Till svar på att det ju inte varit han som begått den hedervärda handlingen svarade han bara något i stil med att han ju ägde slaven.
  
  En annan sak som förvånade mig såhär i slutet var att jag läste att han hade en fru. Jag vet inte om det är bristande fokus från min sida, men hon har verkligen inte lyfts fram alls i detta verk. Hur var deras relation och hur såg Kropotkin på henne?
  
  Hon verkar ha älskat honom och han henne, en tillgivenhet skiner igenom i de få stycken som honom omnämns.
  
  Han skriver om hur demoraliserande fängelsevistelser är. Han understryker även hur straffet drabbar brottslingens anhöriga hårdare än delinkventen själv. Fru, barn och mödrar står utan sin försörjare och blir utlämnade till samhället.
  
  De sista sidorna var vad jag kan minnas de mest informativa om hans politiska hållning. Han förkastar idéen att Europa vid hans skrivande stund hade kapaciteten att producera nog för att alla skulle kunna leva i välstånd. Han såg emellertid kapitalismen som ett hinder i vägen för ett sådant välstånd och att ett socialiserande av de gemensamma resurserna skulle leda till en explosion av ökad produktivitet.
  
  Han redogjorde vidare för hans syn på ömsesidig hjälp som annars blivit en sak han gjort sig känd för. Det är en darwinistisk syn som menar att ömsesidigt samarbete måste haft ett inflytande på vår evolutionära utveckling. Han förkastar Huxleys syn som han kort redogjorde för, att darwinismens inbyggda konkurrens gjorde oss oförmögna till att acceptera ett socialistiskt samhälle - om jag tolkade det rätt.
  
  # Slutgiltig reflektion
  
  Hade jag läst den för första gången nu så hade jag först läst på mer om Kropotkins liv innan jag tog mig an hans biografi. Det tycks mig som att milstolparna hjälpt mig att sätta texten och hans pärlband av analyser och tankar in i ett sammanhang.
  
  Trots att jag läst över 300 sidor om honom känns hans person undflyende för mig. Det känns mer som en skildring av hans offentliga liv snarare än en inblick i hans privata. Han verkar dock som en rättskaffens man.
• 
  Muaz Jalil

  This book is a gold mine. Found it in All Books, Ottawa downtown. Kropotkin was an aristocrat who became an anarchist and was critical of the Soviets and the Tsars.
  
  One place reminded me of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs of world. He narrates a story about his father, an officer fighting the Turks; he received a Cross for Gallantry when his "servant," Frol, saved a child from a burning house. The author was stunned, but his father asked why he should be surprised; after all, Frol was his 'man.' That, in a nutshell, captures when the billionaires like Bezos and Musks take all the credit, accolades, and money while their employees do all the work and get nothing compared to the owner. History will judge us badly or comically, just like we judge Kropotkin's father.
  
  Another thing that becomes clear is how brutal the various Tsars were. Their subjugation of Poles and political opponents. Some things haven't changed, whether it was the Tsar, the Soviets, or the modern reincarnated versions. He talks about the Peter and Paul Fortress, where one Tsar killed his son; political prisoners were tortured beyond measure, men were buried alive, slow torture, etc. He called it the Russian Bastille. One girl was given 9 years of hard labor in Siberia for giving one socialist pamphlet, and another girl of 14 was exiled for life!
  
  Kropotkin's sister pleaded to Alexander II for his release, and instead, the Emperor said to let him rot. And we all know what happened to this pompous cruel dictator; when he was assassinated, nobody was near him and few cadets helped him, including one of the anarchists sent to kill him(Kropotkin writes this story).
  
  England and France come out well. Kropotkin says these countries were the refuge of dissidents. This book also introduced me to Alexander Herzen, whose 4-vol memoirs "My thoughts and pasts" are next on my list.
• 
  Vuk Vukotić

  The book is a phenomanal picture of the second part of the 19th century Europe - both East and West, both the highest circles of power, and the most revolutionary circles of anti-state anarchists.
  
  Kropotkin personally knew the Russian emperor Alexander II, who he served as a page at court. Later, he travelled to Siberia as an explorer and geographer. His account of Imperial Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg and Siberian nature - is meant for the Western reader, requires no extensive knowledge of the subject, and it is a vivid, detailed description of social relations and structures of power in the dying empire. His personal experience of the abolishment of serfdom shed me to tears more than once during the reading.
  
  His account of Western Europe during the rise of socialism and anarchism is not as vivid, as it was written for the contemporary Western reader, who, he assumed, is well acquainted with the details such events as the Paris Commune, the Franco-German war, the spread of socialist ideas in national parliaments etc. Here, slightly more advanced knowledge of history is necessary. Nevertheless, Kropotkin here illustrates his anarchist ideas through personal stories of his professional work and activism in Switzerland, France and England.
  
  A captivating, thrilling 700+ pages.
• 
  Jenny

  I’ve never read an autobiography which so closely mirrors the life of a country. Kropotkin was uniquely placed to observe and participate in the major social movements of his time. Before opening the book I assumed from the title that Kropotkin was a Marxist. Although I’d read Bakunin 25 years ago in college, I’d forgotten about the great Russian anarchists. I’d never understood how anarchism could work in real life so I took refuge in the common belief that anarchism is synonymous with chaos. My college-age self could believe that of Bakunin. But one can not believe that of the peaceful, idealistic Kropotkin. Chaos was represented by the actions of the sprawling, cruelly paranoid Russian Tzarist government. Whenever Kropotkin witnessed a successful endeavor it was a spontaneous grassroots effort. I walked away from this book remaining unconvinced that the anarchist system can work in the modern world...but now I can see the vision.
• 
  Vincent Eaton

  Ran into this book after reading a reference to it, a type of book not usually on my list - a late 19th century memoir of a Russian noble, significant geographer and scientist, who becomes an underground revolutionary for democracy, and his transformation from protected childhood and as a youth serving the Czar, detailing his intellectual transformation, with explorations and explanations of unknown historical territories for me, without much malice in the telling. Many details of being a conspirator mingling with factory workers, his emprisonnement, a man who turned his back on his past, his class, his country, to fight for democracy in Russia.
• 
  Mictter

  Esta autobiografía, escrita originalmente en inglés, cuenta cómo era la vida de un aristócrata moscovita a mediados del XIX; la educación en las academias militares de élite en San Petersburgo; el Lejano Oriente siberiano, todavía a medio explorar; y los movimientos revolucionarios tanto en Rusia como en la Europa Occidental. Interesantísimo todo y tan bien contado que se disfruta cada página. Cómo me habría gustado conocer a Kropotkin en persona.
• 
  Alfredo Bojórquez

  Autobiografía donde Kropotkin cuenta su vida en la cárcel, siempre escribiendo y actuando con un pie en las élites de conocimiento científico y el otro pie entre los obreros, en espacios de militancia, dirigiendo y escribiendo para periódicos. Se ve con claridad su visión heroica, casi misionera, de lo que debe ser un socialista cuando describe a sus amigos. Explica su vida hasta los 57 años. Las anécdotas del espionaje y las huidas son particularmente atractivas narrativamente.