Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism is an introduction to the principles of anarchism
and anarchist communism written by Alexander Berkman. The anarchist movement was under siege
during the 1920s and in an effort to revive the movement the Jewish Anarchist Federation in
New York asked Berkman to write an introduction to anarchism intended for the general public.
By presenting the principles of anarchism in plain language the New York anarchists hoped that
readers might be swayed to support the movement or at a minimum that the book might improve
the image of anarchism and anarchists in the public's eyes. Berkman's work explains anarchist
philosophy in terms that uninitiated readers can understand. Because of its presentation of
anarchist philosophy in plain language Now and After has become one of the best-known
introductions to anarchism in print.
