The Conquest of Bread

Eric L. Swanick is the New Brunswick Legislative Librarian.

The Conquest of Bread is the latest in the Black Rose series of
anarchist classics. The work was originally published in French in 1892,
and did not appear in English until 1906. This volume contains an
English translation by Elisée Reclus of the original preface.
Furthermore, anarchist scholar Woodcock has provided an excellent
20-page introduction which is, in fact, a bibliographic essay that
discusses the publishing, the translator, and other pertinent details,
and provides a perspective on Kropotkin.

The Conquest of Bread was well received in 1892 by both anarchists and
non-anarchists. The text is written in Kropotkin’s clear, simple
language, designed for the working man whose opportunity to read came
after long, exhausting workdays. Kropotkin, more than any other
individual, was responsible for spreading anarchist ideas and keeping
the anarchist movement alive throughout the world. The volume is
interesting in itself as an anarchist classic, but also important are
some of its ideas for today’s society. Kropotkin’s preface is
clearly for libertarian socialism as opposed to the crumbling
authoritative socialism prevalent in many countries today. But one can
also find much that is relevant to today’s society in his
writings—here and in other volumes in the Black Rose series—on such
topics as housing, prison reform, education, and the relationship
between the sciences and the humanities. Woodcock and others have
pointed out that, were Kropotkin alive today, he would be in the
vanguard of the ecological struggle to restore a healthy balance between
people and the environment.

Although there is no index in this volume (or in any of the others in
the series), this book is recommended.