Revolution and War
Written during Karl Marx's brilliant career as a polemical journalist, these blazing
pieces tackle subjects ranging from the strikes of angry British workers to insurrection
in Europe, from the American Civil War to the misery of colonial rule in India,
demonstrating the radical spirit and outrage at social injustice that would make him one
of the most influential political philosophers of all time.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we
see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution.
They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and
destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals
and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
Karl Marx was born at Trier in 1818 of a German-Jewish family
converted to Christianity. As a student in Bonn and Berlin he was influenced by Hegel's
dialectic, but he later reacted against idealist philosophy and began to develop his
theory of historical materialism. He related the state of society to its economic
foundations and mode of production, and recommended armed revolution on the part of the
proletariat. In Paris in 1844 Marx met Friedrich Engels, with whom he formed a life-long
partnership. Together, they prepared the Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) as a
statement of the Communist League's policy.
In 1848 Marx returned to Germany and took an active part in the unsuccessful democratic
revolution. The following year he arrived in England as a refugee and lived in London
until his death in 1883. Helped financially by Engels, Marx and his family nevertheless
lived in great poverty. After years of research (mostly carried out in the British
Museum), he published in 1867 the first volume of his great work, Capital. From 1864 to
1872 Marx played a leading role in the International Working Men's Association, and his
last years saw the development of the first mass workers' parties founded on avowedly
Marxist principles.
Besides the two posthumous volumes of Capital compiled by Engels, Karl Marx's other
writings include The German Ideology, The Poverty of Philosophy, The 18th Brumaire of
Louis Bonaparte, The Civil War in France, A Contribution to the Critique of Political
Economy, Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy and Theories of
Surplus-value.
128 pages, Paperback