Communist Manifesto

'An astonishing masterpiece ... a political classic ... has an almost biblical force' Eric Hobsbawm

The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels' revolutionary 1848 summons to the working classes, is one of the most influential political theories ever formulated. After four years of collaboration, the authors produced this incisive account of their idea of Communism, in which they envisage a society without classes, private property or a state. They argue that increasing exploitation of industrial workers will eventually lead to a revolution in which capitalism is overthrown. Their vision transformed the world irrevocably, and remains relevant as a depiction of global capitalism today.

Edited with an Introduction by GARETH STEDMAN JONES

 

Part 1 Introduction: the reception of the manifesto; the "spectre of communism"; the communist league; Engels' contribution; Marx's contribution - prologue; the young Hegelians; from republicanism to communism; political economy and "the true natural history of man"; the impact of Stirner; communism; conclusion; a guide to further reading. Part 2 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - the communist manifesto: bourgeois and proletarians; proletarians and communists; socialist and communist literature; position of the communists in relation to the various existing opposition parties.