Although Kropotkin's memoirs are not technically narrative, that doesn't mean that we can't glean something from his story, because he tells it in such detail that we are forced to track alongside him as he works through the technicalities of his political beliefs.
Kropotkin was an officer in the army, having been afforded an education at a military academy by his wealthy parents. But, that arrangement seems to have been something of a negative experience, because by the end of his service, he was released from his duty and imprisoned for his political views. When he escapes Russian jail, that is somehow symbolic in a strange way, because he also freed himself from the confines of Russian Marxism, the philosophy of his younger years.
Ultimately, that is the true value of the memoirs—that they explain how a person might become interested in anarchism. By seeing the way the governments of Europe treated Kropotkin for sharing his opinion and being politically active, the reader should at least be able to sympathize with him, even if they don't share his political sentiments.
Anarchism ends up being something a little different than the reader might expect. Kropotkin's version of anarchism isn't exactly the same as abolishing all the governments everywhere (although it's not far off). Rather, it's an idyllic view of a world that saw past politics, learning to live in tight little communities with one another, taking care of each other and ensuring peace by not competing against each other economically. Perhaps this is only utopian dreaming, but still, it can be very refreshing to consider these ideas.
