Jean Grave (1854-1939) was a leading French anarchist whose theoretical works and activity place him alongside such luminaries as Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, and Kropotkin. Drawing on various archival and library sources, Louis Patsouras traces the controversies and convictions that shaped the life and career of this extraordinary radical thinker, set within the fascinating socioeconomic context of Grave's time. "A classic piece of historical writing, easy to read and excellently researched."-William Fishman, University of London, UK "A conscientious study of the history of French anarchism in general, and of Jean Grave, in particular."-Le Mouvement Social Louis Patsouras is Professor of History at Kent State University, and author of Simone Weil and the Socialist Tradition, The Crucible of Socialism, and Debating Marx.

Jean Grave (1854-1939) was a leading French anarcho-communist in the 1880-1920 period, whose theoretical works and activity place him alongside such anarchist luminaries as William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Michael Bakunin, and Peter Kropotkin. Drawing on various archival and library sources, Louis Patsouras traces the controversies and convictions that shaped the life and the career of this extraordinary radical thinker, set within the fascinating socioeconomic context of Graves's time.

This biography charts the life and fascinating long militant career of the French anarchist journalist, editor, theorist, writer, campaigner and educator Jean Grave (1854-1939), from the run up to the 1871 Paris Commune to the eve of the Second World War. Through Grave, it explores the history of the French and international anarchist communist movement over seven decades: its “heroic period” (1880-1890s), shaken by terrorist violence and intense repression, the emergence of syndicalism, national and international solidarity campaigns, the divisions over the First World War, and post-war division and relegation. Through Grave, a “sedentary transnationalist,” the study investigates the networked and transnational organisation of the anarchist movement, addressing the paradox of Grave’s international influence alongside his deep rootedness in Paris by emphasizing the movement’s global print culture and staggering circulations.

Jean Grave and The Anarchist Tradition in France focuses on the anarchist activity of an outstanding French anarchist, flourishing in the 1880-1920 period, whose theoretical works place him alongside the foremost anarchist thinkers: William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Michael Bakunin. But he was also a journalist, best known as the leading editor of Les Temps Nouveaux, in which he enlisted many of his painter and writer friends, such as Camille and Lucien Pissarro, Paul Signac, and Lucien Descaves, to aid the anarchist cause. The leading French collaborator of Peter Kropotkin, Grave was involved in several of the major happenings of the Third Republic: the wave of fear occasioned by anarchist terrorism, the Dreyfus Case, and the rise of anarcho-syndicalism whose chief spokeperson was Georges Sorel. The work ends with and examination of the French anarchist tradition after Grave, with Simone Weil, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the 1968 French Revolution.