2025
COMING IN DECEMBER 2025
2017
Reviews
"Radical Gotham does an excellent job contesting popular conceptions of a radical break in anarchist history by documenting how these later movements were profoundly influenced by the practices and theories of their early immigrant comrades."
--Lateral
"This volume will be essential reading to anyone interested in American anarchist history....In addition to the essays' overall high quality, the book's (well-organized!) footnotes provide useful fodder for future research."
--The Journal of American History
"Radical Gotham is a timely and helpful investigation of New York City as an incubator for American misfits--immigrants, pacifists, and artists--and their evolving plans for a freer and more just world."
--Journal of Social History
"Overall, the collection makes a good contribution to the study of radicalism. It breaks new historiographical ground and it is well written and cohesive. It is suitable for an undergraduate or graduate class on American social movements or anarchism."
--Journal for the Study of Radicalism
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Blurbs
"With its chapters on labor, class, gender, culture, and prefigurative politics, this is a cutting-edge synthesis that shows how anarchism survived from the 1880s to the present in New York City--one of the central nodes in global anarchist networks."
--Kirwin Shaffer
"An inspiring collection that brings together the eclectic, transnational, multiethnic, and resilient histories of anarchist activism in one of the great hubs of the movement—New York City. Tracing the long arc of this movement from its immigrant and working-class roots to the Occupy movement, this is a must-read for everyone interested in the history and evolution of radical social movements."
—Jennifer Guglielmo
2015
Blurbs
"Originally serialized in the Yiddish daily Forverts, Helene Minkin's ​memoir was previously out of reach to all but a few scholars. It is finally available in book form with a superb introduction. Expertly translated, Storm in my Heart is indispensable for anybody interested in the history of the American left."
--Tony Michels
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"Initially written as both a critique of Living My Life and a passionate defense of Johann Most, these are historically important memoirs that have been sensitively and ably edited by Tom Goyens. We should be careful, though, of seeing Helene Minkin as a footnote in anyone's life. She is revealed as a determined comrade who, often living in unbearable poverty, made her own, not insignificant, contribution to the development of anarchism in America. Essential reading."
--Barry Pateman
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"Goyens has rescued a priceless treasure from out of the dustbin of history. Helene Minkin's memoir provides an intimate, not always flattering, but profoundly human portrait of the anarchist movement and some of its most famous figures, as well as of the daily struggles of immigrant life. Scholars and activists alike will learn much from this deeply personal account of a radical life."
--Kenyon Zimmer
2007 | 2014
Reviews
"Goyens . . . does a masterful job of placing leading anarchists such as Johann Most in a transnational context by detailing both the European and US aspects of their careers. . . . Scholars and students will find this is an interesting, informative book. Highly recommended."
--Choice
"This well-researched study of anarchism in New York City makes a significant contribution to the history of radicalism, German ethnicity, and urban culture."
--Journal of American History
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Blurbs
“Beer and Revolution is an extraordinary piece of work, and a rare find. I am astonished at the level of sophistication: it advances recent scholarly developments in charting geopolitical space and resurrects the kind of setting--a mixture of bohemianism and political radicalism--that is of increasing interest to young people today.”
--Paul Buhle
"Beer and Revolution is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the fascinating history of social and political radicalism in American immigrant communities. The work explores in rich detail the German anarchist subculture that flourished for several decades in New York City and the surrounding area. It presents a vivid picture of meeting places such as beer halls, beer gardens and cafes; of organizations such as social and political clubs, musical groups, labor organizations, intentional communities, and schools; of forms of expression such as speeches, lectures, newspapers, magazines, and theatrical performances; and of social activities such as picnics, banquets, celebrations and festivals. Along the way, Tom Goyens offers the reader an illuminating introduction to the social and historical context out of which this particular community emerged. The foremost lesson of this admirable work is that political movements cannot be understood adequately in terms of organizations, events and ideas, but must be studied more deeply in the context of the complex political culture in which they are embedded."
--John Clark