The Russian prince Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was one of the most well-known anarchists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. From being a staff officer of the tsar, he ended up in prison. He escaped from there and lived in America, Switzerland, France, and England.

He returned to Russia after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and died there. His works, which deal with theoretical and practical issues, cover the entire field of study and have been read and continue to be read by anarchists and non-anarchists around the world.

The texts of the book appeared as a series of articles published from 1888 to 1890. They were collected and published in book form in 1899.