Best of
Politics

1910

Labour in Irish History


James Connolly - 1910
    No longer able to control his tribeland he was subordinate to eviction and reproach at the hands of a proprietor. At this time workers had no legal rights and were subject to a stealthy movement down into poverty and abasement. This history compiled by James Connolly describes the humiliation and outrage of Irish peasants. He details their descent into horrific social difficulty and offers a solution to this downward spiral. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

Anarchism and Other Essays


Emma Goldman - 1910
    A Russian Jewish immigrant at the age of 17, she moved by her own efforts from seamstress in a clothing factory to internationally known radical lecturer, writer, editor and friend of the oppressed. This book is a collection of her remarkably penetrating essays, far in advance of their time, originally published by the Mother Earth press which she founded.In the first of these essays, Anarchism: What It Really Stands For, she says, "Direct action, having proven effective along economic lines, is equally potent in the environment of the individual." In Minorities Versus Majorities she holds that social and economic well-being will result only through "the non-compromising determination of intelligent minorities, and not through the mass." Other pieces deal with The Hypocrisy of Puritanism; Prisons: A Social Crim and Failure; The Psychology of Political Violence—note the relevence of these themes to our own time; The Drama: A Powerful Disseminator of Radical Thought; Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty; and The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation. A biographical sketch by Hippolyte Havel precedes the essays.Anarchism and Other Essays provides a fascinating look into revolutionary issues at the turn of the century, a prophetic view of the social and economic future, much of which we have seen take place, and above all, a glimpse into the mind of an extraordinary woman: brilliant, provocative, dedicated, passionate, and what used to be called "high-minded."Unabridged republication of the 3rd (1917) edition, with a new Introduction by Richard Drinnon. Frontispiece. xv + 271 pp. 5-3/8 x 8-1/2. Paperbound.

What's Wrong with the World


G.K. Chesterton - 1910
    A steadfast champion of the working man, family, and faith, Chesterton eloquently opposed materialism, snobbery, hypocrisy, and any adversary of freedom and simplicity in modern society.Culled from the thousands of essays he contributed to newspapers and periodicals over his lifetime, the critical works collected for this edition pulse with the author's unique brand of clever commentary. As readable and rewarding today as when they were written over a century ago, these pieces offer Chesterton's unparalleled analysis of contemporary ideals, his incisive critique of modern efficiency, and his humorous but heartfelt defense of the common man against trendsetting social assaults.

Marriage and Love


Emma Goldman - 1910
    Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of ecstasy; love, the defier of all laws, of all conventions; love, the freest, the most powerful molder of human destiny; how can an all-compelling force be synonymous with that poor little State - and Church - begotten weed, marriage?

John Brown: 1800-1859: A Biography After Fifty Years


Oswald Garrison Villard - 1910
    Twenty-six years later, in the same publication, Mr. John T. Morse, Jr., wrote that "so grand a subject cannot fail to inspire a writer able to do justice to the theme; and when such an one draws Brown, he will produce one of the most attractive books in the language. But meantime the ill-starred 'martyr' suffers a prolongation of martyrdom, standing like another St. Sebastian to be riddled with the odious arrows of fulsome panegyrists." Since 1886 there have appeared five other lives of Brown, the most important being that of Richard J. Hinton, who in his preface gloried in holding a brief for Brown and his men. The present volume is inspired by no such purpose, but is due to a belief that fifty years after the Harper's Ferry tragedy, the time is ripe for a study of John Brown, free from bias, from the errors in taste and fact of the mere panegyrist, and from the blind prejudice of those who can see in John Brown nothing but a criminal. The pages that follow were written to detract from or champion no man or set of men, but to put forth the essential truths of history as far as ascertainable, and to judge Brown, his followers and associates in the light thereof. How successful this attempt has been is for the reader to judge. That this volume in nowise approaches the attractiveness which Mr. Morse looked for, the author fully understands. On the other hand, no stone has been left unturned to make accurate the smallest detail; the original documents, contemporary letters and living witnesses have been examined in every quarter of the United States. Materials never before utilized have been drawn upon, and others discovered whose existence has heretofore been unknown. Wherever sources have been quoted, they have been cited verbatim et literatim, the effort being to reproduce exactly spelling, capitalization and punctuation, particularly in John Brown's own letters, which have suffered hitherto from free-hand editing. If at times, particularly in dealing with the Kansas period of John Brown's life, it may seem as if there were a superfluity of detail, the explanation is that already a hundred myths have attached themselves to John Brown's name which often hinge upon a date, or the possibility of his presence at a given place at a given hour. Over some of them have raged long and bitter controversies which give little evidence of the softening effects of time. So complex a character as John Brown's is not to be dismissed by merely likening him to the Hebrew prophets or to a Oromwellian Roundhead, though both parallels are not inapt; and the historian's task is made heavier since nearly all characterizations of the man have been at one extreme or another. But there is, after all, no personality so complex that it cannot be tested by accepted ethical standards. To do this sincerely, to pass a deliberate and accurate historical judgment, to bestow praise and blame without favor or sectional partisanship, has been the author's endeavor." CONTENTS I. The Moulding Of The Man II. "His Greatest Or Principal Object" III. In The Wake Of The War Cloud IV. The Captain Of The Liberty Guards V. Murder On The Pottawatomie VI. Close Quarters At Black Jack VII. The Foe in The Field VIII. New Friends For Old Visions IX. A Convent1on And A Postponement X. Shubel Morgan, Warden Of The Marches XI. The Eve Of The Tragedy XII. High Treason in Virginia XIII. Guilty Before The Law XIV. By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed XV.

The American Commonwealth - Volume 1


James Bryce - 1910
    Volume I covers the Constitution and the American political system. It discusses the structure of American government and the ways in which the living American government as an entity responds to crisis. The possibilities and power struggles inherent in the American system of government are examined and documented with a fair hand. Bryce goes into further detail about state constitutions and the differing legal structures that exist on a more local level. Anyone with an interest in politics or American history will find Bryce's commentary penetratingly insightful. British historian VISCOUNT JAMES BRYCE (1838-1922) attended the University of Glasgow and Trinity College, Oxford. He is best known for his scholarship of the Holy Roman Empire. His popular works include Studies in History and Jurisprudence (1901) and Studies in Contemporary Biography (1903).