Photo of Emma Goldman

Living My Life

by Emma Goldman Author and Miriam Brody Foreword

Born in Russia in 1869, and immigrating to America at 16, Emma Goldman played an active roll in the anarchist and socialst movements of the Progressive Era. She was a journalist and activist for birth control and free love, and lived a life filled with political conflict, intrigue and romance. In this abridged autobiography, she tells her story vividly, capturing her youthful fervor and passion as she and Alexander Berkman worked with their fellow Jewish immigrants in New York City to try to radicalize the US labor movement, including an assassination attempt on a prominent industrialist. She also writes of the disillusionment that came with age, her return to Russia, and experiencing the oppression of the communist state. Drawn from her memories as well as the prolific letters she wrote over decades, her account of her life feels immediate and fresh. A rare opportunity to share the consciousness of one of the past century and a half's most independent, brilliant, and charismatic figures.