[1] An expanded reworking of the author's PhD thesis at the University of Oxford, the book was released by Pluto Press, a London-based radical publisher, in November 2007.

[4] Gordon considers his approach in the book to have many commonalities with that of anthropologist David Graeber, author of Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology.

[1][6][7][8][9][3] Reviewing the book in Anarchist Studies, Alex Prichard predicted that "not only will Anarchy Alive!

[6] Richard Swift, in a review for New International, called the book "a short and thoughtful account", and granted it a four-out-out-of-four star rating.

[10] Freedom reviewer Tom Jennings dissented, calling into question the theoretical coherence of the book.