Beating Hearts Press: Direct Action Titles

DIRECT ACTION

The Achievements of General Ludd: A Brief History of the Luddites + Lessons from the Luddites. By Kirkpatrick Sale. $2
A5 zine. 28 pages.
Two essays that later formed the backbone of the authors excellent book Rebels Against the Future. A mandatory history lesson for anyone concerned with raging against the machines.

Anarchist Survival Guide For Understanding Gestapo Swine Interrogation Mind Games: Staying Free By Shutting The Fuck Up! By Harold H. Thompson. $2
A5 zine. 14 pages.
Self-explanatory!

Animal Liberation: Liberate to Devastate or Devastatingly Liberal? $3
A5 zine. 74 pages.
"These essays are about a basic question: what does 'true' animal liberation entail? The concerns of animals, long usurped by animal rights activists, have been pushed away from the interests of all animals to live wild and free towards what modern consumers deem to be 'cruelty free' or 'humane'. Forever imposing a fear of death and a willingness to live a life based around confinement and subservience to civilization unto ourselves and all other life.
These essays start from understanding liberation in terms of freedom from domestication rather than freedom from death, immersion with wildness over a false and protracted idea of security. It is about slaughtering the sacred cows of civilization and coming to terms with what it means to be wild, both for human and non-human animals."

As Darkness Falls: an Animal Liberation Front Primer. $2
A4 zine. 14 pages.
A brief but informative introduction to the - how to say this? - "activities" of the ALF. This is obviously just intended as a document to be consulted for your general interest, information and entertainment - for instance if you're tired of reading Harry Potter and fancy something a bit different, or if you're a corporate scumfuck journalist writing a hit-piece about the evils of direct action... but, now that I think about it, I suppose someone who was actually interested in committing acts of vandalism, sabotage, property destruction and theft (or "freeing innocent beings from the depths of hell", as the authors would have it) in the name of animal liberation - or, indeed, any kind of liberation - could actually use this as something of a guide.... but obviously none of you would do that. Thank goodness.

Bodyhammer: Tactics and Self-Defense for the Modern Protester. By Sarin. $2
A4 zine. 24 pages.
A how-to guide for keeping yourself in one piece when you're out on the streets fighting the pigs! From the construction and application of shields and various body-armour to the endless possibilities of charging and tactical group formations, referencing not just well-known contemporary street battles but also the military strategies of the Romans and the Vikings!!

Do or Die: Voices from the Ecological Resistance - #10. $16
Paperback book. 382 pages. ISBN 0-9545662-0-3.
The incredible final issue of Do or Die – finally back in stock. A big fat, gorgeous-looking book packed full of crucial info, sharp insights and gallows humor! Seriously, this is without a doubt one of the most important resources published in the anarchist community in the last few years. The first 100 pages (!) is ‘Down with the Empire! Up with the Spring!’, which takes an honest look at the last 10 years of ecological resistance in Britain – what went wrong, what went right, and why – and then takes those lessons and proceeds to identify the tasks we all need to take on worldwide if we’re serious about protecting the earth from complete annihilation at the hands of industrial capitalism. It’s a sobering, but inspiring read. And that’s just the beginning! Then there are another 282 pages, with excellent thoughts and reports on anti-GM sabotage, the lessons we can learn from the wildly successful SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty) campaign, the ELF (Earth Liberation Front), an interview with American Indian eco-activist Rod Coronado, anarcha-feminist health and healing, social centres, the occupation of Western Sahara and the resistance to it, living with the Bayaka Pygmies of the Congo basin rainforest, children and radical education, resistance and anarcha-feminism in the streets of Bolivia, the uprising in Algeria…. I could keep going and going, but why waste my time and yours when you already know you need a copy of this book in your life?

Do or Die: Voices From the Ecological Resistance - #9. $8
Paperback book. 232 pages. ISBN 1462-5989.
This was the penultimate issue of the UK's premier eco/anarcho journal, published in late 2000. So while it may no longer serve its function as a provider of breaking news, it more than makes up for that with vast quantities of very readable thoughts on, for instance: the struggles against globalisation and biotechnology, social movements in Spain, planning actions, 'blagging and the dole', the worlds greatest prison escapes, the radical history of football (that's "soccer" to us backwards down-under folk), and a whole bunch of other stuff... In fact, the writing in Do or Die is entertaining and interesting enough that it's more than worth reading the (then) topical analysis of the issue as well. A case in point is the piece on the 'guerrila gardening' London Mayday 2000 action - it may have been a failed action that happened on the other side of the world several years ago now, but i'll be damned if there aren't some lessons to be learned (and some laughs to be had..!). Speaking of laughs, you will not believe some of the stuff published in their letters section! A more terrifying cross-section of the eco-activist scene could not be imagined. Crazed readership aside, Do or Die is/was a great journal, now sorely missed.

Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching. Edited by Dave Foreman and Bill Haywood. $8
A5 zine. 352 pages.
The full text of this legendary manual in zine form - you have never seen a bigger bundle of photocopied pages in your entire life! This is pretty much the definitive guide to waging guerrilla war on the techno-capitalist death system - most other guides either borrow from or explicitly recommend reading Ecodefence. The chapter on security is especially crucial. If you're planning to get out there and take some action (and obviously we don't recommend that you do - we think you should stay home and watch tv), you should check this out. Even though it's for entertainment purposes only. Obviously.

Encuentro: Journal of Political Hardcore - #3. $2
A5 zine. 52 pages.
Hardcore punk zines that are actually worth reading are an extremely rare breed. Even moreso now, as this was the last issue of Encuentro - editor Joey started a new project with Out From the Shadows zine. Interviews with Mack Evasion, Oubliette, Gather and The Twilight of Idols, plus 'the anarcho-primitivist case for straight edge'.

Fugitive Days: A Memoir. By Bill Ayers. $20
Hardcover book. 304 pages. ISBN 1-902593-88-X.
In the late 1960s, in response to his increasing horror at the US involvement in Vietnam, Bill Ayers helped found the Weather Underground. He was involved in the defining moments of his generation—the Days Of Rage, SDS, the Black Panthers, and then lived as a fugitive for years while the Weather Underground unleashed a campaign of bombings, jailbreaks and riots on the US imperialist system. This is an incredible story, notable not only for its detail, but for the honesty with which Ayers tackles the tragedies, triumphs and traumas of a life underground, as well as the lessons he learned as a founding member of an ideological political organization. The fact that he is a great writer, who provides a fascinating and engrossing read, also helps.

Memories of Freedom. By the Western Wildlife Unit of the ALF. $2
A5 zine. 76 pages.
Text-based zine from the mid-1990’s chronicling the history and ascendance of the Animal Liberation Front in North America, and in particular the anti-fur farm actions of the Western Wildlife Unit, including the notorious ‘Operation Bite Back’ campaign of the early 90’s that brought the U.S fur industry to its knees. Perhaps a dozen different actions – break-ins, arsons, trashings, and, of course, liberations – are described in scintillating detail, and along with the history, the impassioned rhetoric, and the tales of repression, capture and defiance, this makes for a pretty amazing, and inspiring, read. FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

"Over the last ten years I have placed myself between the hunter and the hunted, the vivisector and the victim, the furrier and the fur bearer, and the whaler and the whale… It is time for me to hand over my role as a “hero” to the animal and environmental movements to others whose faces are not yet known. To you I give the responsibility to preserve and protect what is left of the splintered nations of others we call animals. In your hands lies the future of this centuries old struggle, in yourselves you must find heroes. Now you must take risks rather than cheer on those who have walked before you." – Rod Coronado

Out From the Shadows: A Vegan Straight Edge Journal of Resistance. $2
A5 zine. 68 pages.
The successor to Encuentro zine, Out From the Shadows really raises the bar, leaving behind the band interviews and vague rhetoric that seems to be inherant to the hardcore punk zine genre in favour of actually hammering out some ideas for practical resistance to the death culture. Thoughtful writings on reclaiming vegan straight edge from the fascist jocks and poseur douche-bags, the violation and destruction endemic to domestication and civilization, and how we might all get our shit together and actually do something about it, as well as a brilliant excerpt from Derrick Jensen's Endgame on addiction, info on wild plant and mushroom foraging, reviews, and more. Mandatory reading for anarcho-vegan-edge kids, highly recommended for everyone else!

Pacifism As Pathology. By Ward Churchill. $16
Paperback book. 162 pages. ISBN 978-1904859185.
A new edition - complete with an introduction from Derrick Jensen - of this absolutely crucial text. Ever had the sneaking suspicion that perhaps the avenues with which those in power allow us to pursue change are somehow also completely ineffective? Ever thought that perhaps supporting armed struggle by others elsewhere in the world but refusing resolutely to dirty our hands ourselves with such 'violence' is a little convenient, cowardly and perhaps even faintly racist? Ever wanted to read something that cut through the bullshit around an issue like 'violence vs. non-violence' and presented a clear case for struggle that simply works? Read this. Please.

"This extraordinarily important book cuts to the heart of one of the central reasons movements to bring about social and environmental change always fail. The fundamental question here is: is violence ever an acceptable tool to bring about social change? This is probably the most important question of our time, yet so often discussions around it fall into clichés and magical thinking: that somehow if we are merely good and nice enough people, the state will stop using its violence to exploit us all. Would that this were true."—Derrick Jensen, author of Endgame, from the Introduction

Pie Any Means Necessary: The Biotic Baking Brigade Cookbook. $6
Paperback book. 116 pages. ISBN 1-902593-88-X.
Hilarious little anthology that combines the history, analysis, tactics and recipes behind landing big smooshy pies in the smug faces of capitalist scum, pompous politicians and otherwise deserving enemies of the people! I had no idea just how widespread this phenomenon has been until I read this book - it's not just Bill Gates, you know. They got Milton Friedman, Canadian Premier Jean Chretien, Swedish King Carl Gustaf, Sylvester Stallone, WTO Director Renato Ruggiero, Andy Warhol... (if only they'd been throwing things slightly less sweet and fluffy!). If you have both a sense of humour and a sense of poetic justice (or at least a desire to look at photographs of people you hate covered in cream pie), this will prove a highly entertaining, and perhaps inspiring, read.

SchNews at Ten: A Decade of Party & Protest. By Various. $18
Paperback book. 320 pages. ISBN 09529748-8-6.
Your favorite cheeky British anarchists look back on 10 glorious years of razing hell. If you've seen any of the previous SchNews annuals, you know the score here: reprints of some of their excellent weekly news bulletins, supplemented by hundreds of insightful articles, amazing photos, and hilarious parodies and comics - except this time they're covering the best of the last ten years! Reclaim the Streets, McLibel, the Zapatistas, Hunt sabbing, the J18 Carnival Against Capitalism, the rise of anti-genetics actions, Prague, Seattle... 320 pages of learning from our defeats, gloating over our triumphs, and steeling ourselves for the battles to come.

"...brilliantly written, bleakly humorous, and essential reading for anyone who gives a shit." - Radiohead (no, really!!)

All prices are postage paid in Australia.

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