The Man Who Was Thursday was written in 1908, at the tail end of the period of the Anarchist movement. The history of the Anarchists is complex and probably beyond my ability to summarize. They descended from Marxism and sought to destroy the ruling class mostly through violent outrages. They bear at least a superficial resemblance to the terrorists that plague the world today, at least in their methods.
The Man Who Was Thursday was nominally about the struggle against Anarchists. And this scene from early in the book pretty much summarizes the philosophical motivation for the anarchists. After today's attacks in Brussels, it's probably worth a look,
For more about the link between the old anarchists and modern terrorists, here's a 2005 article from The Economist.
No comments:
Post a Comment