In the turmoil of the Russian insurrection of 1905 and the civil war of 1917, the anarchists attempted to carry out their programme of 'direct action' - workers' control of production, the creation of free rural and urban communes and partisan warfare against the enemies of free society. Paul Avrich consulted published material in five languages and anarchist archives worldwide to present this accurate picture of philosophers, bomb-throwers, workers, peasants and soldiers who fought and died for the freedom of 'Mother Russia'.