God and the State

Synopsis

Among the 19th-century founders of modern philosophical anarchism, none is more important than michael bakunin (1814–76). Born into the russian nobility, he renounced his hereditary rank in protest against czarist oppression and fled to western europe. A colorful, charismatic personality, bakunin quickly became central to the anarchism movement, and everyone involved either built upon or reacted to his ideas. Yet bakunin, despite the power of his ideas, was primarily a man of action, and he wrote little.