James Joll's comprehensive book introduces the reader to the personalities, theories and practical politics of the anarchist movement throughout its history. In the first part the author discusses the early precursors of anarchism and in Part Two he presents the full spectrum of anarchist activity in many countries during the heyday of the movement in the nineteenth century. The third section and the conclusion chronicle the fate of anarchism in the twentieth century and cover, amongst other things, the Spanish Civil War and a discussion of the quasi-anarchist student movements of the late 1960s.