• The London Years, by Rudoph Rocker. AK Press, 2005.

It’s hard to imagine a better role model than the protagonist of The London Years. The narrator of this autobiography is an absurdly hard-working soul with the song of freedom in his heart. Whether stepping in to save Yiddish-language publishing in pre–World War I Great Britain even though he barely knows the language, or subordinating his global aspirations to the local demands of East End sweatshop workers, Rudolph Rocker is a down-to-earth hero who blows his horn best by muting it.

The reader with a soft spot for progressive politics will be hard-pressed to avoid falling in love with him. This is one case, though, when passion seems thoroughly justified. Tikkun readers will thrill at Rocker’s tales of political organizing among the destitute Eastern European Jews who came to England to escape persecution in their homelands. Though Rocker’s prose is more workmanlike than wondrous, the style suits his story perfectly.

It helps greatly that he is so generous of spirit. As Rocker recounts his wide-ranging experiences as a political activist and publisher, he goes out of his way to show solidarity with progressives of every stripe. He even manages to find something good to say about Karl Marx, which is no small feat for an anarchist.  To be sure, some of Rocker’s sunniness in The London Years comes from the fact that he wrote the book as an old man looking back over his life through the brightly tinted monocle of memory. He remembers, not in order to take stock of his experiences, but because he wants them to become a rootstock for future radicals. This gives the book a slightly propagandistic feel, as if each incident in it were packaged as a lesson for young anarchists to absorb and analyze. But the effect is so mild that it’s actually a relief.

More importantly, Rocker’s decision to prioritize deeds over words gives readers the sense that sectarian disagreement should be dispensed with at the first opportunity. In light of everything Rocker and his radical brethren accomplished in the face of intense government resistance—this book is a reminder of how bad Imperial Britain could be—it seems ridiculous to sit around discussing terminology. Whether your sympathies lie with Howard Dean or Guy Debord, The London Years is the perfect call to action for a Left in danger of losing the will to act.

—Charlie Bertsch