Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was the originator of the phrase 'property is theft' and was a prolific writer and thinker of the 1800s. His political philosophy continues to be influential upon today's libertarian political strands and this collection brings together a definitive selection of his writing.

This is a new translation of one of the classics of the traditions of anarchism and socialism. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a contemporary of Marx and one of the most acute, influential, and subversive critics of modern French and European society. What is Property? (1840) has become a classic of political thought through its wide-ranging and deep-reaching critique of private property as at once the essential institution of Western culture and the root cause of greed, corruption, political tyranny, social division, and violation of natural law.