The Bonnot Gang: The Story of the French Illegalists, 2nd ed. - Softcover

Richard Parry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1629631434 ISBN 13: 9781629631431

Publisher: PM Press, 2016

Synopsis

A STORY OF ILLEGALISM - THE THEORY THAT THEFT IS LIBERATING IN ITSELF

Illustrated with rare photos and maps, this extensively-researched history is the best-ever account of the infamous Bonnot Gang.

This is the story of the infamous Bonnot Gang: the most notorious French anarchists ever, and as bank expropriators the inventors of the motorised 'getaway'. It is the story of how the anarchist taste for illegality developed into illegalism - the theory that theft is liberating in itself. And how a number of young anarchists met in Paris in the years before the First World War, determined to live their lives to the full, regardless of the consequences.

Paris in 1911 was a city of riots, strikes and savage repression of the working class. A stronghold of foreign exiles and homegrown revolutionaries, it was also the base of l'aanarchie, the outspoken individualist weekly. L'anarchie drew together people for whom crime and revolution went hand in hand. There was Victor Kibalchich (later known as Victor Serge), whose inflammatory articles would put him on trial with the rest. Then there was the gang itself: Victor's childhood friend Raymond-La-Science, the tuberculous André Soudy, the serious-minded René Valet, Simentoff the southerner and lastly the prime motivators of the group - the remorseless Octave Garnier and the experienced Jules Bonnot. Their robberies, daring and violent, would give them a lasting notoriety in France. Their deaths, as spectacular as their lives, would make them a legend among revolutionaries the world over.

Extensively researched and fully illustrated with rare period photos, drawings and maps, this updated edition of The Bonnot Gang is the best account of the group to appear in any language.

About this title

Review:

"All in all, this is that rare book indeed. It is a good read and action-packed; but also meticulously researched with an impressive attention to detail." -- New Anarchist Review

"Although Parry does not try to romanticize the protagonists, the conclusion of the book does try to interpret their story as a political event arising out of the class struggle... It will be widely read; it ought to be widely discussed." --Nicholas Walter in Freedom

About the Author:

Richard Parry studied medieval and modern history at University College London and took a Master's in European Social History at the London School of Economics. He subsequently became a leading human rights lawyer who specialised in defending protesters. He continues to live and practise criminal defence law in London, his native city.

About this edition

• Publisher: PM Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1629631434
• ISBN 13: 9781629631431
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 288