Damned Fools in Utopia
Subtitle: And Other Writings on Anarchism and War Resistance
By: Nicolas Walter ; edited by David Goodway
Contributors: Goodway, David, 1942-
Publisher: PM Press
Published: 2011-04
Place of publication: Oakland, Calif; London, United Kingdom
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 289
ISBN-13: 9781604862225
Copyright date: 2011
Subjects: Nuclear disarmament; Anarchism; Pacifism; History
Description: Nicolas Walter was the son of the neurologist, W. Grey Walter, and both his grandfathers had known Peter Kropotkin and Edward Carpenter. However, it was the twin jolts of Suez and the Hungarian Revolution while still a student, followed by participation in the resulting New Left and nuclear disarmament movement, that led him to anarchism himself. His personal history is recounted in two autobiographical pieces in this collection as well as the editor’s introduction.

During the 1960s he was a militant in the British nuclear disarmament movement – especially its direct-action wing, the Committee of 100 – he was one of the Spies for Peace (who revealed the State’s preparations for the governance of Britain after a nuclear war), he was close to the innovative Solidarity Group and was a participant in the homelessness agitation. Concurrently with his impressive activism he was analyzing acutely and lucidly the history, practice and theory of these intertwined movements;  and it is such writings – including Non-violent Resistance and The Spies for Peace and After – that form the core of this book. But there are also memorable pieces on various libertarians, including the writers George Orwell, Herbert Read and Alan Sillitoe, the publisher C.W. Daniel and the maverick Guy A. Aldred. The Right to be Wrong is a notable polemic against laws limiting the freedom of expression. Other than anarchism, the passion of Walter’s intellectual life was the dual cause of atheism and rationalism;  and the selection concludes appropriately with a fine essay on Anarchism and Religion and his moving reflections, Facing Death.

Nicolas Walter scorned the pomp and frequent ignorance of the powerful and detested the obfuscatory prose and intellectual limitations of academia. He himself wrote straightforwardly and always accessibly, almost exclusively for the anarchist and freethought movements. The items collected in this volume display him at his considerable best.

(Source: [PM Press](https://pmpress.org.uk/product/damned-fools-in-utopia-and-other-writings-on-anarchism-and-war-resistance/))
Table of contents: title: Abbreviations
pagenum: vi; title: Preface
pagenum: vii; title: Introduction
pagenum: 1; label: 1.
title: Thirty Years’ War: Some Autobiography
pagenum: 13; label: 2.
title: An Autobiographical and Textual Note
pagenum: 17; label: 3.
title: Damned Fools in Utopia
pagenum: 23; label: 4.
title: Non-violent Resistance: Men against War
pagenum: 37; label: 5.
title: The Committee of 100: Ends and Means
pagenum: 79; label: 6.
title: The Committee of 100 and Anarchism (with Ruth Walter)
pagenum: 83; label: 7.
title: The Spies for Peace and After
pagenum: 93; label: 8.
title: The Regional Seats of Government, 1919–1963
pagenum: 125; label: 9.
title: Fifty Years of the Peace Pledge Union and Peace News
pagenum: 151; label: 10.
title: Bertrand Russell and the Bomb
pagenum: 159; label: 11.
title: The New Squatters
pagenum: 163; label: 12.
title: The Solidarity Group and Anarchism
pagenum: 169; label: 13.
title: Listen, Solidarist!
pagenum: 171; label: 14.
title: Cornelius Castoriadis: An Obituary
pagenum: 175; label: 15.
title: Cornelius Castoriadis: A Review
pagenum: 179; label: 16.
title: Re-reading Read
pagenum: 183; label: 17.
title: Remembering Herbert Read
pagenum: 187; label: 18.
title: George Orwell and Anarchism
pagenum: 189; label: 19.
title: Because He Is a Man: Alan Sillitoe
pagenum: 215; label: 20.
title: The Short Stories of Alan Sillitoe
pagenum: 223; label: 21.
title: C. W. Daniel: The Odd Man
pagenum: 225; label: 22.
title: Guy A. Aldred, 1886–1963
pagenum: 241; label: 23.
title: Dorothy Day
pagenum: 257; label: 24.
title: Three Intellectuals
pagenum: 261; label: 25.
title: The Assassination of President Kennedy: Does It Really Matter?
pagenum: 265; label: 26.
title: Diana as Star and Spectacle
pagenum: 269; label: 27.
title: The Right to Be Wrong
pagenum: 273; label: 28.
title: Anarchism and Religion
pagenum: 279; label: 29.
title: Facing Death
pagenum: 287; title: Books and pamphlets by Nicolas Walter
pagenum: 289