This book, which appears to be about the only surviving scientific text from Kropotkin's work, is very interesting and insightful. The first two chapters which deal with animals I found most interesting, because they address the roots of the falsehood of social-darwinism. Kropotkin then proceeds to move through the different stages of human society and describes the mutual aid a compassion fetures therein. It is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it. It is a scientific text, but it has major political implications and is very accessible.

This book is great.It crushes social "darwinism" to the ground.Brilliant.Next time a Libertarian(the right wing kind) tells you that the only way a species can survive is by bitter competition.Point out this book.This book is a godsend.Being a biochemist(and a left libertarian),one of the hardest things I've had to deal with(except pomos) is racist,capitalist "scientists" or sociobiologists.This book makes a powerful,scientific argument for cooperation,mutual aid and compassion.All I can say is BRILLIANT!5 stars!

This book shows how Darwin's findings were all too influenced by Malthus and were a direct reflection of the Capitalistic political area he was from. Kropotkin witnessed in Siberia that animals rather than competing to stay alive, had to work together to stay alive.

Kropotkin stresses that cooperation is the main factor in evolution, not competing forces that Darwin and his contemporaries thought.

Kropotkin gives a number of examples of inter and intra-species working together to survive and thus evolve.

Kropotkin explores a number of societies. Steven J. Gould has given credence to Kropotkin, yet he is largely ignored in evolution texts.

This book changed the way I think about evolution and helped me to realize how a study as influencial as Darwin's could be biased.

This work by Peter Kropotkin's is, I say this without reservations, a work of genius and an amazing reflection on the life of an amazing man. Kropotkin's stories of his childhood and his relations with his servants and other lower-calss individuals (he was born a prince) are very interesting, as are his tales of exploration. His version of anarcho-socialism is very intriguing, largely because he bears no hate or grudge towards anyone and he is a very gentle man. In his book, it becomes clear (without him saying it, of course) that he did not recognize just how unique of a man he was. This book is filled with marvelous anecdotes, from cutting political commentary to fascinating stories of journeys down the Amur River to a splendid little collection of stupid Russian Spy stories. This book is fantastic.

Prince Piotr Alekseyevich Kropotkin, 1842-1921, was a Russian geographer and anarchist. He came from a wealthy princely family and as a boy was a page to the czar. Repelled by court life, he obtained permission to serve as an army officer in Siberia, where his explorations and scientific observations established his reputation as a geographer. After returning to European Russia, he became an adherent of the Bakuninist faction of the narodniki and engaged in clandestine propaganda activities until arrested in 1874. Two years later he escaped to Western Europe, where he worked with various anarchist groups until his imprisonment in France (1883). Pardoned in 1886, partly as the result of the popular clamor for his release, he moved to England and spent the next 30 years mainly as a scholar and writer developing a coherent anarchist theory. In his most famous book, Mutual Aid (1902), he attacked T. H. Huxley and the Social Darwinists for their picture of nature and human society as essentially competitive. He insisted that cooperation and mutual aid were the norms in both the natural and social worlds. From this perspective he developed a theory of social organizationin Fields, Factories and Workshops (1898) and elsewherethat was based upon communes of producers linked with each other through common custom and free contract. Returning to Russia following the February Revolution of 1917, he attempted to engender support for a continued Russian effort in World War I and to combat the rising influence of Bolshevism. Following the Bolshevik triumph in the October Revolution (1917), he retired from active politics. Consistently nonviolent in his anarchist beliefs, Kropotkin,as both thinker and man, was admired and acclaimed by many far removed from anarchist circles.

This intelligent and kind man all too often falls through the cracks of history. People forget that there was a completely different school of socialist thought that existed concurrently with the ideas of Marx. Kropotkin, like many others who believed in the ability of people to make their own economic relations, had the distinction of being persecuted by people on both sides of the political spectrum. Yet his book is remarkable for its lack of self-pity or resentment. The book is dense and full of the musings of a highly educated man of the late 19th century who indulged many other interests besides politics. His journey is remarkable, and we can only hope that he will become better known.

I love this book. Rarely have I experienced such a feeling of synergy with an author. Numerous times while reading this book I thought "Hey! I say that all the time!" The Conquest of Bread is an important document of a neglected tradition in philosophy and activism. Peter Kropotkin shows us that one can be radical without being authoritarian or wishy-washy. For a very different, though no less radical, take on anarchism and freedom, try Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own.

Peter Kropotkin was one of the major figures of anarchism, and this book offers the reader a wealth of insight into his ideas. While Mikhail Bakunin represented the fire and brimstone revolutionary of anarchism, Kropotkin focused his scientific intellect on making a workable anarchist society. To that end, he rightfully focused a great deal of energy on cooperation and reciprocity as the basis for a workable society. He was far ahead of his time in his understanding of the ideas of mutual aid and cooperation, at the time when capitalist "dog-eat-dog" ideas first came to dominate society.

This book takes a cross-section of his thinking that lets you understand how he came to be such a strong proponent of mutual aid.

Kropotkin's ceaseless attempts at hashing out anarchism in practice and theory are vital for anybody seeking to apply the ideas today. For anyone who considers anarchy synonymous with chaos, destruction, and bloodshed, this book is a must-read, as it should open their eyes to the true ideas behind anarchism.

Kropotkin was an awesome communo-anarchist and this is a Great book! Buy it and learn about the awesomest political theoy in the world!!!! E-mail me on your thoughts of Kropotkin(if you dare.....). Anyway, paz, Bye, Puck: GBknight@aol.com

Kropotkin's history surpasses even the greatest classical treatments of the French Revolution. His emphasis is on the purely liberating aspects of the Revolution, and he takes lessons from the Commune which are still relevant for modern progressives, radicals, revolutionaries, anarchists, syndicalists, and communists.

Kropotkin himself is an anarcho-communist, opposing all authoritarian forms of government, and this is reflected in his dynamic and highly spirited interpretation of the French Revolution.

Prince Peter Kropotkin was the first thinker since William Godwin to construct a full system of anarcho-collectivism. This collection consists of a bunch of satisfying niblets (yes, niblets) of that system, some better than others.

First, anyone into anarchism has got to read Kropotkins essay of that title for the Encyclopedia Britannica. It has to be the clearest written, most well-stated short intro around. His essay on "The Anarchist Morality (written oddly enough as a retort to some kids who, after stealing some books, justified it with "To each according to his need.")The early essays, which take us through the first hundred-or-so pages are the best, as they get into the underlying theory of anarchism and what "sponteneous order" might look like. Of course "Modern Science and Anarchism" is a complete misnomer because the essay is heavy on philosophical speculation with not much scientific speculation. The latter essays are more-or-less historical propoganda and will be of interest to the history student.

Still, in a world of inarticulate and often unsavory characters, Kropotkin comes off as astute, thoughtful, clear and insightful. Of course, science has (done its best to?)prove Kropotkin wrong on his altruistic evolutionary theories. Even modern "reciprical altruists" in the wake of Dawkins, Wilson and Ridley are looking less altruistic and more reciprical. I guess only time will tell. Hmmmm....