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Sasha and Emma

Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman is a 2012 history book about Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman. The book was co-authored by the father-daughter pair Paul and Karen Avrich, and posthumously published after Paul's death. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice for 2012.[1]

Summary

Sasha and Emma is a dual biography of anarchists Alexander "Sasha" Berkman and Emma Goldman. The authors contrast their personalities, beliefs, and public image over their 50-year relationship. The book, presented in three parts,[2] covers the history of radicalism in the United States and Europe over a 70-year period.[3]

The first part, in alternating, parallel sections, tells how Berkman and Goldman came to radicalism: Berkman as a poor worker and Goldman leaving a marriage, both drawn to the Haymarket affair defendants. They met in New York City's anarchist community under Johann Most. After Berkman's failed attentat on industrialist Henry Clay Frick, Berkman spent 14 years in prison, as the authors contrast his declining health, regret over failing to foment revolution against Goldman's own nascent infamy and feelings of belonging in the United States.[4]

Following his release from prison, the second part follows Berkman and Goldman's reunion and their political and personal lives. Berkman struggles to reintegrate and works to forge his own identity by publishing his prison memoirs and a journal, The Blast, while Goldman continues her public speaking and Mother Earth journal. The authors emphasize the support network behind their radical work and the historical context of American radicalism in the era, including the Ludlow Massacre,[4] Preparedness Day bombing, and increased targeting of radicals with the onset of the World War I. The pair were ultimately deported for their anti-draft activism.[3]

The third part follows Berkman and Goldman's aspirations for the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent disillusionment, particularly after the Kronstadt rebellion and Bolshevik persecution of anarchists. Fleeing Russia for exile in Switzerland, Germany, and France, the authors explore Goldman's feeling of connection to the United States and desire to return in contrast with Berkman's felt at home in no country.[3]

Publication

Historian Paul Avrich died in 2006 with his manuscript for a dual biography of Goldman and Berkman unfinished. It was his 11th book and included 40 years of research. His daughter, Karen, spent six years finishing the book for publication in 2012.[5]

References

  1. ^ The New York Times 2012.
  2. ^ Orr 2017, pp. 191–192.
  3. ^ a b c Orr 2017, p. 193.
  4. ^ a b Orr 2017, p. 192.
  5. ^ Orr 2017, p. 191.

Sources