founded london uk 1886 founder charlotte wilson headquarters 84b whitechapel high street london uk website http freedompress.org.uk freedom press is an anarchist publishing house in whitechapel london united kingdom . 1 founded in 1886 it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the country 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 runs a news and comment based website and until recently regularly published freedom which was the only regular anarchist newspaper published nationally in the uk . the collective took the decision to close publication of the full newspaper in march 2014 with the intention of moving most of its content online and switching to a less regular freesheet for paper publication . 2 other regular publications by freedom press have included freedom bulletin spain and the world revolt and war commentary . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 1886 1918 1.2 1918 45 1.3 post war 2 organisation 3 authors and notable writers 4 freedom paper editors 5 published works 6 gallery 7 references 8 external links history edit part of the politics series on anarchism schools of thought black capitalist christian collectivist communist egoist existentialist feminist green individualist infoanarchism insurrectionary leftist left wing market magonist mutualist naturist pacifist philosophical platformist post anarchist post colonial post left primitivist queer social syndicalist synthesist vegan without adjectives theory practice anarchy anarchist black cross anationalism anti authoritarianism anti militarism affinity group black bloc classless society class struggle communes consensus democracy conscientious objector counter economics decentralization deep ecology direct action direct democracy dual power especifismo expropriative anarchism free association free love free school freethought horizontalidad illegalism individualism individual reclamation isocracy law mutual aid participatory politics permanent autonomous zone prefigurative politics proletarian internationalism propaganda of the deed refusal of work revolution rewilding self ownership social center social ecology social insertion somatherapy spontaneous order squatting temporary autonomous zone union of egoists people mile armand mikhail bakunin alexander berkman alfredo m. bonanno murray bookchin noam chomsky buenaventura durruti s bastien faure mahatma gandhi william godwin emma goldman francesc ferrer i gu rdia peter kropotkin gustav landauer ricardo flores mag n nestor makhno errico malatesta louise michel johann most rudolf rocker murray rothbard pierre joseph proudhon diego abad de santill n lysander spooner max stirner henry david thoreau leo tolstoy benjamin tucker volin colin ward josiah warren john zerzan issues anarcho capitalism crypto anarchism animal rights capitalism education criticisms islam lifestylism marxism nationalism orthodox judaism religion love and sex violence history paris commune cantonal revolution hague congress international conference of rome trial of the thirty haymarket affair may day anarchist exclusion act congress of amsterdam tragic week high treason incident manifesto of the sixteen individualist anarchism in the united states 1919 united states bombings biennio rosso german revolution of 1918 19 bavarian council republic kronstadt rebellion third russian revolution free territory amakasu incident escuela moderna individualist anarchism in europe in france spanish revolution barcelona may days red inverted triangle labadie collection may 1968 provo lip kate sharpley library australian anarchist centenary carnival against capital 1999 seattle wto protests occupy movement culture films anarchist bookfair anarcho punk arts culture jamming diy culture freeganism hip hop independent media center infoshop the internationale jewish anarchism land and liberty lifestylism no gods no masters popular education property is theft radical cheerleading radical environmentalism red and anarchist skinheads squatting symbolism glossary a las barricadas economics communization co operatives cost the limit of price economic democracy economic secession gift economy give away shop infoanarchism market abolitionism mass strike mutual aid participatory economics really really free market socialization wage slavery workers self management by region africa argentina australia azerbaijan bolivia brazil canada china cuba ecuador egypt france french guiana germany greece india iceland ireland israel italy japan jordan korea mexico monaco new zealand poland romania russia singapore south africa spain sweden transnistria turkey ukraine united kingdom united states venezuela vietnam lists anarcho punk bands communities fictional characters jewish anarchists love & sex musicians organizations periodicals poets russian anarchists films related topics anti capitalism anti corporatism anti consumerism anti fascism anti globalization anti statism anti war autarchism autonomism communism labour movement left communism libertarianism libertarian socialism libertarian marxism marxism situationist international socialism spontaneous order anarchism portal politics portal v t e 1886 1918 edit the core group which went on to form freedom press came out of a circle of anarchists with international connections formed around the london based radical firebrand charlotte wilson a cambridge educated writer and public speaker who was in the process of breaking from fabian society orthodoxy . among this founding group were nikola chaikovski francesco saverio merlino and as of 1886 celebrated anarchist communist peter kropotkin who had been invited to britain by wilson after his release from prison in france in january of that year . wilson led a group of anarchists in founding freedom as a social anarchist and anarchist communist group in september 1886 just a month after losing a vote in which the fabians formally backed the parliamentary route to socialism . alongside starting freedom newspaper as a monthly beginning in october the group also produced other pamphlets and books primarily translations of international writers including errico malatesta jean grave gustav landauer max nettlau domela nieuwenhuis emile pouget varlaam cherkezov emma goldman alexander berkman pierre joseph proudhon mikhail bakunin and of course kropotkin himself . discussion groups and public meetings were also begun early on . 4 in the early years of the paper wilson funded and edited it out of a number of different offices while kropotkin became a regular writer and provided its star turn . in 1895 wilson resigned after a long series of personal difficulties 5 and alfred marsh a violinist took over . marsh solidified the press alongside close collaborator william wess and they were joined by ex members of the defunct socialist league s publication commonweal john turner tom cantwell and joseph presburg . marsh was able to acquire more permanent premises and printing facilities at 127 ossulston street in 1898 . 6 freedom collective member donald rooum notes freedom press stayed in ossulston street for the next 30 years . the hand operated press dated from about 1820 and needed three operators ; two to load the paper and pull the handle and one to take the paper off . with the acquisition of its own press albeit an elderly one the group was able to publish more often and in 1907 started a second paper voice of labour which allowed former spectator compositor thomas keell to become a permanent collective member eventually taking over editorial duties at the paper in 1910 as marsh s health declined . 7 freedom became one of the most widely read anarchist publications in the period leading up the first world war ; however the collective split in 1914 15 over how anarchists should respond to the conflict with keel s anti militarist position winning the backing of a majority of the national movement and kropotkin leaving after he came out in favour of an allied victory a stance which would see him put his name to the manifesto of the sixteen in 1916 . keell and his companion lilian wolfe would go on to be imprisoned for the paper s staunch opposition to the war in 1916 though wolfe was quickly released . 1918 45 edit as with many other anarchist enterprises freedom had trouble maintaining itself after the war ended as many activists had died and the seeming success of marxist leninism in russia drew british radicals into the orbit of an ascendant communist party of great britain . while donations allowed it to remain solvent for over a decade and several of its core group remained notably john turner who became its publisher from 1930 until his death in 1934 8 a crushing blow came in 1928 when the ossulston street building was demolished as part of a slum clearance scheme . keell retired shortly afterward and while the collective continued to publish it produced only an irregular newsletter over the course of the next eight years 4 7 the paper was relaunched 10 years later as energy and interest in the anarchists swelled around the spanish civil war beginning with the publication of a fortnightly publication spain and the world 1936 38 which was renamed to revolt and then war commentary 1939 45 before being renamed back to freedom in august 1945 . it was edited by vero recchioni who later changed his name to vernon richards the son of an italian anarchist and marie louise berneri the daughter of camillo berneri an italian anarchist who was assassinated in spain . the italian anarchist movement had been well established in london since the 1920s . 9 much of the bookshop s history through this time was tied up with richards who was the driving force behind both the press and the newspaper from the 1930s until late in the 90s . richards teamed up with keel and wolff as publisher and administrator respectively the latter would remain so until the age of 95 . in 1942 the press was able to buy a printing firm express printers at 84a whitechapel high street which it did with the help of a rival printing firm and a supporters group the anarchist federation which would become the nominal owner of the title until it declared itself autonomous in the 1950s . with an avowedly anti war stance the paper would continue to publish throughout the war and would face prosecution for its stance only in peacetime britain . 7 post war edit the freedom press building in 2014 war commentary was published with an overtly anti militarist message co operating heavily with the pacifist movement and in november 1944 the homes of several collective members were raided along with the offices of the press itself . when richards marie louise berneri john hewetson and philip sansom were arrested at the beginning of 1945 for attempting to undermine the affections of members of his majesty s forces 10 benjamin britten e. m. forster augustus john george orwell herbert read chairman osbert sitwell and george woodcock 11 set up the freedom defence committee to uphold the essential liberty of individuals and organizations and to defend those who are persecuted for exercising their rights to freedom of speech writing and action . 12 in 1961 freedom began producing anarchy a well regarded series with noted front pages designed by rufus segar 13 and seven years later the press moved to its current premises at 84b whitechapel high street after whitechapel art gallery bought out 84a . at this point the press was entirely owned and run by richards though he would transfer ownership of the building to a company limited by guarantee and without share capital the friends of freedom press in 1982 . richards also relinquished control over the paper s running from 1968 though would return periodically in editorially difficult moments and retained overall control of the press . 4 7 in 1981 the printing function of the press was once again lost with several members of the printing collective spinning off those functions into aldgate press using money raised by richards . 4 the bookshop was repeatedly attacked in the 1990s by neo fascist group combat 18 during street conflicts between fascist and anti fascist groups in the east end and eventually firebombed in march 1993 . 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 . 14 with richards death in 2001 a succession of new editors were brought on board including members of what would become the libcom collective a web based group which now maintains the largest online library of anarchist texts in the english speaking world . 15 a