The philosophy is underestimated as being simple - but it's not. It was daunting at first, but it will make sense as you keep reading.
15 years later, I'm still learning new things, and still comparing and contrasting the different currents. But keep in mind, it's the overall philosophy that is important - some people tend to get very stuck in the details and forget the overall goal.
And the fact is, none of us know how it will work - we just have to try, and learn by our mistakes.
Anarchist societies have existed before - one of the most famous was the Paris and Lyon Communes. Workers took over the workplaces and collectively organized their production and distributed the products of their labor.
This impressed both Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Karl Marx. The two had been feuding about how a workers' revolution would play out - Marx was intent on having a Vanguard Party lead the masses, and using the state to foment revolution (something anathema to anarchists). Marx even purged Proudhon's disciple, Mikhail Bakunin and his followers, from the International Workingmen's Association (known as the First International) for the latter's insistence on an organic, workers led revolution from below. After seeing the success of the Paris and Lyon Communes, Marx started to rethink his ideas on revolution (took a more anarchist stance). Bakunin turned out to prescient, because around 50 years later, the Bolsheviks proved that utilizing the state, and forcing already organized workers to follow a Party Vanguard, was disastrous - and ruined the revolution almost as soon as it started.
Just a bit of contextual history between the different traditions of socialism (state socialism vs. anarchism). When Marx had his epiphany, that was way later in life, after his theory had been accepted by a vast majority of socialists. However, there are "autonomist Marxist" that recognize this and incorporate this into their philosophy - Autonomist Marxists, such as Rosa Luxembourg, were more concerned with direct action, organic labor organization, actions on the ground, and were not focused on political or party organization, and were averse to the tendencies for traditional Marxists to centralize authority. In this way, Autonomist Marxists were much more aligned with anarchists than they were with their traditional Marxists comrades. The social organization and direct action were the focus, as is with anarchists. Basically the same thing, but they call themselves different names.
Anyway, I have a tendency to write too much. I love this stuff and am interested in learning and teaching. So, hopefully, you will enjoy it, too. Don't let it become daunting.
Happy reading! 
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