Today only, VersoBooks.com is letting you download five books (six if you live outside North America) to help you make sense of the current national and international political landscape – and how the internet is reshaping the art world. Inspired by Anonymous’ promise to wage all-out war on Donald Trump tomorrow (April Fool’s Day,) Verso has decided to celebrate the life and work of the late Aaron Swartz. The computer genius and internet hacktivist, who famously argued that “downloading isn’t stealing,” took his own life in 2013 at the age of 26 after being hounded by the U.S. government. At the time of his death he was facing a fine of one million dollars, and thirty-five years in prison.
Ironically, Verso wasn’t able to secure North American rights to The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz, so only readers outside North America can download that book. Yes, the irony is thick. North American readers can get the following, though.
Five Free E-Books to Free Your Mind:
Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work
by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
Revolution in the Age of Social Media: The Egyptian Popular Insurrection and the Internet
by Linda Herrera
Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous
by Gabriella Coleman
The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire
by WikiLeaks. Introduction by Julian Assange
In the Flow
by Boris Groys
For the old-school crowd, print editions of all the books are 20% – 30% off.
The full documentary The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz is available below.
