It shouldn’t really be me writing this obituary of Donald Rooum the anarchist and his time with Freedom Press, as I knew him for a mere 17 years, a relative drop in the ocean of his experiences. But the truth is that those of his friends and comrades who would have known him best, the
Tag: Donald Rooum
How we invaded Cuba
On Friday 12 July 1963, anarchists invaded the Cuban Embassy in London. Members of the British Communist Party, who had been faithful to the Party Line throughout the difficult war years, obediently switching from pro-war to anti-war and back, in support of Soviet foreign policy, were shocked in 1953, when Stalin died and the line
Mikhail Bakunin and Karl Marx: Contrasting proposals for approaching socialism
This text was submitted by Freedom’s longest-running contributor Donald Rooum. We publish it to mark Karl Marx’s 200th birthday. The word “socialism” has many uses. Coined in about 1827, it was used interchangeably with “Owenism” in the 1830s, to mean provision of happy social life, as in the villages provided by Robert Owen for his
Freedom Press cartoons on exhibition in Bradford
The Peace Museum in Bradford is currently hosting an exhibition ‘Cartoons For Peace’ including at least two Freedom Press books. The March to Death, a book of anti-war cartoons was first published by Freedom Press in defiance of war-time censorship in 1943. The drawings are by John Olday illustrating quotations chosen anonymous by Marie-Louise Berneri. The edition
Do not vote, it only encourages them
Cartoonist and longtime Freedom contributor Donald Rooum has seen more “radical” governments than today’s offerings come and go, and has a little reminder for people who get too excited by Statist “democracy.” Do not believe the media which exhort you to vote for Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn. Only a very small minority, of about 100,000
Book Review: Donald Rooum’s Anarchist Wildcat Comics
PM Press, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-62963-127-1 PP: 128 Publisher: PM Press As it should be, Rooum’s playful illustrations dominate this volume. Anarchist Wildcat Comics has three parts. The first 40 or so pages are Rooum’s introduction and discussion of his personal history as an anarchist during the middle to late decades of 20th century Britain. Most