« I therefore shall not be a competitor with you, for I do not desire either to rule or to be ruled».

This revolutionary statement attributed by Herodotus to the Persian aristocrat Otanes anticipates by almost 2,500 years the basic principle of the anarchist worldview. The book is written for the young reader who, unfamiliar with political theory, may also have little patience for ideological debates. Using a set of key words, the author approaches anarchism from an existential perspective, stressing its pragmatic aspects. Anarchism is thus conceived as an ethical principle that can guide the daily lives of all those who seek to change themselves and the world.

Francesco Codello, a teacher and the referent for the International Democratic Education Network in Italy, he is member of the editorial board of the Italian anarchist review "Libertaria". He is the author of Educazione e anarchismo (Ferrara 1995) and La buona educazione (Milano 2005).

I was struck by the extent to which Francesco Codello's approach to anarchism closely resembles my own.