Freedom Press (UK)

The Freedom Press premises in Angel Alley, Whitechapel, east London

The Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the the largest anarchist publishing house in the nation and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is based at 84b Whitechapel High Street in the East End of London. Alongside its many books and pamphlets, the group also publish a fortnightly newspaper, Freedom, which is the only regular national anarchist newspaper in the UK.

The Press was founded in 1886 by a group of friends, including Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin, who were already publishing Freedom newspaper, and has operated, with short breaks, ever since. Much of the bookshop's recent history was tied up with Vernon Richards, who was the driving force behind both it and Freedom Newspaper from the 1930s until late in the 90s.

The bookshop was attacked by neo-fascist group Combat 18 in March 1993, and eventually firebombed. The building still bears some visible damage from the attacks, and metal guards have been installed on the ground floor windows and doors, intended to ward against any further violence (see picture).

Today Freedom Press remains as a functioning publishing house whilst the printing itself is done by Aldgate Press. (A printing co-op set up in 1981 with money raised by Vernon Richards). The building hosts an autonomy club, archive, bookshop, hacklab and newspaper. The library of the Freedom Press is held at Bishopsgate Library.

Freedom Press have published titles by Clifford Harper, Dennis Gould, Nicolas Walter, Colin Ward, Murray Bookchin, Gaston Leval, William Blake and many others, including 43 issues of the journal The Raven.

Subjects of recent books include Emiliano Zapata, Nestor Makhno and a reprint of Alexander Berkman's The ABC of Anarchism.

Gallery

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  Freedom Press

• Freedom Press Kropotkin.jpg

  Portraits of famous anarchists on Freedom Press building, detail of Peter Kropotkin

External links

• Freedom Press website
• libcom.org British libertarian communist website linked to Freedom Press
• A Books List of publications available online
• Bishopsgate Library website
• Publisher of the long-running Freedom newspaper (1886-) Informational page at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia

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