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

September 2021 Kate Sharpley Library Bulletin online

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 103, September 2021 has just been posted on our site. https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/2281s4 The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/1vhjzb

Contents:
Remembering Stuart Christie, one year on. "It’s nearly a year since our friend and comrade Stuart Christie died. We’ve posted a handful of his writings to mark the anniversary." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/k0p4c3
Remembering Albert. "We have posted a couple of items which show different aspects of Albert’s life." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/6q58k6
Anarchism in North East England 1882-1992 [review] "This is a big book, but don’t let that put you off, it’s a great piece of history from below." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/3txbjp
Pietro Ferrua (1930-2021) by Marianne Enckell "This founding father of the CIRA died in Portland, Oregon, USA on 28 July 2021." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/2v6z8n
Rachel Hui-Chi Hsu. “Emma Goldman, ‘Mother Earth’ and the Anarchist Awakening” [Book review] by Barry Pateman "Through the work of Hsu we appreciate Goldman as a conscious anarchist and thinker who is part of a wider anarchist movement that is in constant reaction to the world around them." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/tqjrzs
Oppositions: some anarchist writings of Ida Mett [Book review] "Much of these writings contain sparks of hope at a time when darkness appeared to be suffocating anarchists and their ideas." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/kh1b18
Insurrection: The Bloody Events of May 1937 in Barcelona [Book review] "Insurrection is a vital contribution to Spanish Civil War history. It’s also a critical examination of what revolutions do and what they need." https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/jwswhw

A Life for Anarchy (forthcoming)

A Life for Anarchy : A Stuart Christie Reader, edited by the Kate Sharpley Library
"Without freedom there would be no equality and without equality no freedom, and without struggle there would be neither" — Stuart Christie
Stuart Christie (1946–2020) is best known for his involvement in the anarchist resistance to the Franco dictatorship in Spain. He also co-founded the Anarchist Black Cross, Black Flag and Cienfuegos Press – among many other publishing ventures.
This collection of articles has been put together as a tribute to his life by the Kate Sharpley Library collective. It contains some of his short political writings from the anarchist, radical and mainstream press; and some of his tributes to his friends and comrades. The final section contains a selection of tributes friends and comrades paid to him.
This book is not meant to be a crash course in modern anarchist history but simply a tribute to our friend who dedicated his life to "self-managed collectivism, individual freedom, solidarity and fun!"
https://www.akpress.org/a-life-for-anarchy-preorder.html

Ida Mett

Our comrades at Steimer Press have just published Oppositions: some anarchist writings of Ida Mett. You can read a review here.

July 2021 Kate Sharpley library non-bulletin online

NOT the bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, No.7 July 2021 is here: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/5dv5fh

Russian Anarchists (Mark Mratchny, Feldman, Emma Goldman on Peter A. Kropotkin)
Remembering Albert
Obituary (Hate is Not Enough – the passing of a class warrior)
Louise Michel
Imanol’s list (A Roll-Call of Spanish Anarchists in the French Resistance and Escape Lines)
Anarchist militants look at history:
Makhno’s Opinion of Lenin and Leninism
The Struggle Between Marxism and Anarchism in the Russian Revolution by Aleksandr Savelevich Levandovsky
The Hungarian Communes (March 1919-March 1937) by Aldo Aguzzi
Lest the Spanish Revolution Finish Up Like the Russian by Nicholas Lazarevitch, Ida Mett and David Grigor’evich Polyakov
Updates & Publications (The Stuart Christie Memorial Archive: An update, New books)
Edward Colston: two links

March 2021 Kate Sharpley library non-bulletin online

NOT the bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, No.6 March 2021 is here: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/9s4pcz
100th anniversary of the Kronstadt revolt
An online conference, March 20-21, 2021
As Rexroth said:
Kronstadt (and other revolts) in graphic novels
Emma Goldman: New Book by Rachel Hui-Chi Hsu
Centro Iberico
The Paris Commune
On the railway (in Spanish)
Stuart Christie: Podcast and Archive
Stuart Christie’s Life and Legacy with The Stuart Christie Memorial Archive
The Stuart Christie Memorial Archive
Kropotkin
Spanish comrades
The UJA, One of the Very First Groups to Fight Francoism by Imanol
The Rue Duguesclin Hold-Up and the Story of the Spanish Anarchists in Lyon and Villeurbanne by Oscar Freán Hernández