The Haymarket Tragedy

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Summary: Avrich is the premier historian of Anarchism
Review: This history of the Haymarket affair traces the lives and development of the principles in the drama from their earliest exposure to the labor movement, socialism, and anarchism and up to the tragic bombing in which they were falsly accused and ultimately executed. What makes Avrich special is in the way he does not shy away from the uncomfortable truth while strill retaining the idealistic values of the players in this tragedy. He does not portray the men who were executed after the Haymarket bombing as lambs, but demonstrates their intense, often militant struggle. It was a violent time. At the same time, he explains the motivations of these men, especially Albert Parsons, in such a way that one wonders what other course could they have taken. The stirring explorations of Parsons' development from civil war vet to committed advocate of the working class does not idolize the man, but casts as heroic the struggle for justice and the loving and rich culture that produced the early figures of Anarchism. Avrich is the most well known and effective mainstream historian of Anarchism. His book on Sacco and Vanzetti is even more powerful than the Haymarket book, and his Anarchist Portraits and Anarchist Voices are essential primary sources