It was in prison in 1911 that Peter Arshinov established a close personal and political friendship with Makhno, which continued after their release following the February Revolution in 1917. In 1919 Arshinov became Makhno's secretary, and remained with the Makhnovists until 1921. In 1922 he settled in Berlin and published the Russian edition of his story. Arshinov's history of the Makhnovists is undoubtedly the most important source work available. Includes an introduction by Voline, and excellent prefaces by Fredy Perlman (the original translator, and publisher, of the work in English), and Nicolas Walter (to the original Freedom Press edition). It's about time this was available again!

Peter Andreyevich Arshinov (Marin, Пётр Андреевич Аршинов in Russian) (born 1887 - died circa 1937) was a metal worker from Ukraine who in 1904, joined the Bolshevik Party and began to edit the paper Molot (hammer). In 1906, to escape the attention of the police, he fled to Ekaterinoslav. There he became an anarchist. On the 7th March 1907 he shot dead the boss of the railway workshops of Alexandrovska. Arrested on 9 March 1907 he was condemned to death by hanging by a military tribunal. In the night of 22 April 1907, he escaped with other prisoners during an Easter Mass, taking refuge in France.

In 1909, Arshinov returned to Russia and was caught smuggling arms from Austria. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Moscow, where he met Nestor Makhno. Both men were liberated by the Revolution in 1917, and in 1919, Arshinov joined Makhno and became involved in cultural and educational work in the area controlled by the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine. He was also the leader of "Nabat" (Confederation of the Anarchist Organizations of Ukraine). In 1921, Arshinov emigrated from the country, in which time he would participate in the group Dielo Truda with Nestor Makhno. He later would return to the USSR in 1935. Arshinov was executed in or around 1937.