Book review – Anarchism in North East England

Tyneside Anarchist Archive, Anarchism in North East England, 1882 – 1992, 505 pages, [Active Distribution. £9. ) https://www.activedistributionshop.org/shop/home/5190-anarchism-in-north-east-england-1882-1992.html

This impressive and comprehensive contribution caps a canny few years of the careful development of the Tyneside Anarchist Archive. This phenomenon started life as bundles of leaflets and zines from the 1980s boxed in the founder’s bedroom, and subsequently – inspired by examples such as the Kate Sharpley Library in London as well as Newcastle’s Canny Little Library – has grown into an important and extensive collection of material not only from Tyneside and North East England but also books, journals and magazines representing much of the history and records of the activities of anarchists and fellow-travellers across the UK and further afield. But it is the local and regional texture which sparkles in this volume, written with the intention of providing a ‘history from below’ to match the corresponding libertarian…