Review: "A Flame to Extinguish Capital" - Deric Shannon in "Interface: a journal for and about social movements"

"If you have a passing interest in radical politics, get this book. If you have an interest in anarchism, get this book. If you are an anarchist already, whether you agree with the authors' perspective or not, get this book. This is a thoroughly researched narrative of a political movement that promises freedom, equality, and social viability for us all..." 

 Deric Shannon* (University of Connecticut), "A Flame to Extinguish Capital", Interface: a journal for and about social movements, volume 2 (1): 381 - 414 (May 2010), pp. 399-403    


"... after reading Black Flame, it's impossible not to reflect on the massive amount of research that such a work must have entailed. The book is a narrative about anarchism and, with interest in anarchism on the rise worldwide, it could not have come at a better time ...

"Black Flame offers a reminder to us that anarchism is a part of the socialist movement and that a concern with social oppression without a commitment to ending class society is just liberalism that is sometimes dressed up in anarchist colors--albeit with some noble goals ... Throughout this well-researched history, Schmidt and van der Walt touch on many other important issues within the anarchist milieu ...

" ... they research and write about anarchist positions on national liberation struggles, race, gender, internationalism, armed action--this list could go on--all with painstaking research and detail. There is too much content to comment on in a single review.

"And, importantly, Schmidt and van der Walt do so paying critical attention to anarchism as an international movement, citing anarchists from as disparate places as Germany, Britain, China, Japan, Uruguay, and so on. The authors have done a great service to the anarchist community by drawing out these international ties and decentering the West within anarchism's historical tradition showing that we are, indeed, an international movement and that the demands for socialism combined with freedom within anarchism are not limited to the West.

"As a reviewer, it is common practice to recommend a book one finds valuable and interesting. If you have a passing interest in radical politics, get this book. If you have an interest in anarchism, get this book. If you are an anarchist already, whether you agree with the authors' perspective or not, get this book. This is a thoroughly researched narrative of a political movement that promises freedom, equality, and social viability for us all..."

Deric Shannon teaches sociology at the University of Connecticut, and is co-editor of Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An Introductory Anthology of Anarchy in the Academy (Routledge 2009) and co-author of Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and the State (Pine Forge Press forthcoming).