Cutting through misperceptions and historical inaccuracies, Zoe Baker shows how the reasons anarchists gave for supporting or opposing particular strategies were grounded in a specific theoretical framework—a theory of practice. The consistent and coherent heart of anarchism, Baker shows, is the understanding that, as people engage in activity—political or otherwise—they simultaneously change the world and themselves.

Michael Bakunin was one of the early influential theorists of the anarchist movement and played a key role in developing and spreading its ideas. He is one of my favourite authors and I have gained…