The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents

A thrilling history of the rise of anarchism, told through the stories of several violent revolutionaries and the secret police who pursued them. In the late nineteenth century, nations the world over were mired in economic recession and beset by social unrest, their leaders increasingly threatened by acts of terrorism and assassination from anarchist radicals. In this comprehensively researched, riveting history of that tumultuous period, historian Alex Butterworth follows the rise of these violent revolutionaries from the failed Paris Commune of 1871 to the 1905 Russian Revolution. Through the interwoven stories of several key anarchists and the secret police who tracked them, Butterworth explains how, as the anarchists' ideals were gradually defeated, their frustrations led many of them to increasingly desperate acts of terrorism and murder. A masterly exploration of the strange twists and turns of history, The World That Never Was ranges across five continents and is rich with anecdote and a surprising cast of supporting characters, from Victor Hugo to Wyatt Earp. Here is the story of a generation that saw their utopian dreams crumble into dangerous desperation. It is a revelatory portrait of an era with uncanny echoes of our own.

About the Author :
ALEX BUTTERWORTH is a historian and dramatist whose first book, "Pompeii: The Living City," won the Longman-History Today New Generation Book of the Year Award in 2006. He lives in Oxford, England.

Review :
"Vivid . . . In its thorough, compelling examination of anarchism, "The World That Never Was" is not a chronicle of isolated violent acts committed by deranged individuals. Rather, it convincingly portrays anarchism as the product of an inexorable human impulse. And it leads one to ask if anarchism might again (or, perhaps, still) be lurking at the fringes of society." --John Smolens, "The Washington Post" "Stocked with vivid characters. . . . Butterworth shows how political violence committed by disorganized cells of anarchists, socialists, and nihilists fuelled fears of an international conspiracy and justified reactionary crackdowns. . . . [He] brings these figures to life without romanticizing their followers, who claimed the lives of a Russian tsar, an American president, and, most consequential, Archduke Franz Ferdinand." --"The New Yorker" "Stimulating, provocative . . . Butterworth's deeply knowledgeable, exceedingly well-written text does not airbrush the weakness inherent in anarchism's belief that a perfect society could arise only from mutual cooperation among enlightened individuals free of constraining hierarchies. Our knowledge of the terrible history of trying to create utopias by coercive means helps us share the author's empathy for the anarchists' desperate insistence on the primacy of individual conscience and liberty. Our knowledge of the polarizing political consequences of unfettered individualism and rote invocation of the word 'liberty' may help us judge more gently anarchism's destructive romance with violence, chronicled here with such intelligence and moral clarity." --Wendy Smith, "Los Angeles Times" "Fascinating . . . A historical pot-boiler . . . Butterworth charts the odyssey of these European revolutionaries as they fought to build a new society, and the furious maneuvers by security services to thwart them." --Matthew Price, "The Boston Globe" "Chillingly familiar . . . As the author of a pol “Vivid . . . In its thorough, compelling examination of anarchism, "The World That Never Was" is not a chronicle of isolated violent acts committed by deranged individuals. Rather, it convincingly portrays anarchism as the product of an inexorable human impulse. And it leads one to ask if anarchism might again (or, perhaps, still) be lurking at the fringes of society.” —John Smolens, "The Washington Post" “Stocked with vivid characters. . . . Butterworth shows how political violence committed by disorganized cells of anarchists, socialists, and nihilists fuelled fears of an international conspiracy and justified reactionary crackdowns. . . . [He] brings these figures to life without romanticizing their followers, who claimed the lives of a Russian tsar, an American president, and, most consequential, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.” —"The New Yorker" “Stimulating, provocative . . . Butterworth’s deeply knowledgeable, exceedingly w