Stuart Christie

Image rights: (photo credit Iain Clark, Bio credit Kate Sharpley library)

The Floodgates of Anarchy isbn: 9781604863970 (EPUB) 9781604863987 (MOBI) formats: epub mobi published: 06/2010 pages: 144 price: 7.00 euros

Glaswegian anarchist, writer and publisher. Arrested in Madrid, aged 18, in possession of plastic explosives to be used during an attempt on the life of the dictator Franco. Christie and his Madrid contact Fernando Carballo Blanco were charged with Banditry and terrorism and tried by a drumhead court martial within two weeks of their arrest. The action was organised and co-ordinated by the clandestine anarchist armed resistance organisation Defensa Interior (DI) for which Christie was acting as courier. Carballo Blanco was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and Christie 20 years, of which, due to international pressure, he served only three years. Carballo Blanco, on the other hand, was not released until 1976 - becoming Franco’s last political prisoner. On his release in 1967 Christie was involved in the re-formation of the Anarchist Black Cross and the launch of the anarchist monthly Black Flag, and was later arrested and charged with seven others of being a member of the ‘Angry Brigade’ in what became, at the time, the longest trial in British judicial history. Acquitted on all charges at the Old Bailey trial Christie set up the anarchist publishing house Cienfuegos Press which later became Refract Publications, The Meltzer Press and what is now ChristieBooks. His website http://www.christiebooks.com hosts over 800 films and documentaries with anarchist and related libertarian themes.