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Political Economy: A Beginner's Course
Originally published in the Soviet Union in 1935, this was a popular Stalinist textbook on Marxism and how it related to the problems of the day. The book was used in Communist Party study classes for years.
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1935
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 5, 2017
A good introduction to Marxist-Leninism. Much easier to understand than diving into Capital it also makes it easy to understand Capital. Also, makes it easier to understand the Leninist theory of monopoly imperialist capitalism. 1935 is definitely the best edition as later version had certain edits made by the revisionist Soviet Union and criticism of social democracy taken out. It also has questions at the end of every chapter to consolidate your knowledge. CPGB-ML publishes it as well https://www.proletarianonline.org/pro... .
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December 18, 2009great read, a real insight into the beginings of marx
March 31, 2024
Decent primer on political economy; but unnecessarily refers to all kinds of positions as 'Trotskyite', even though neither Trotsky nor any major Trotskyist organisation holds those positions.
Nonetheless, an accessible primer.
Nonetheless, an accessible primer.
June 22, 2025
placeholder per "l'imperialismo del dollaro nell'europa occidentale" che su questo sito non ci sta.
in poche parole:
RILANCIARE L'OFFENSIVA ANTI-IMPERIALISTA. FUORI L'ITALIA DALLA NATO E FUORI LA NATO DALL'ITALIA.
-1 stella per i commenti poco carini sul compagno tito
in poche parole:
RILANCIARE L'OFFENSIVA ANTI-IMPERIALISTA. FUORI L'ITALIA DALLA NATO E FUORI LA NATO DALL'ITALIA.
-1 stella per i commenti poco carini sul compagno tito
July 4, 2020
A Soviet propaganda indeed :<
April 19, 2025
As far as introductions to political economy go, this has got to be one of the best ones I have read in its ability to summarise the massive topic and through the scientific lens of dialectical and historical materialism for beginners, right alongside Marx's Wage Labor and Capital and Value, Price, and Profit. In a number of aspects such as in its simplicity and easiness to comprehend, this book is much better than the later textbook on political economy issued by the Soviet Academy of Social Sciences in 1954 (especially since that textbook suffers from certain ideological problems introduced by the revisionists).
In terms of simplicity, political economy does not get easier to understand than this although the author in quite a few places does go a bit too far in simplifying things to the point of oversimplification and makes excessive use of very simplistic analogies or examples. To the reader who is totally new to political economy, this would no doubt make comprehension easy, but to anyone more familiar with political economy, the repetitive use of simplistic examples does grow rather tiresome.
The other, and definitely the largest, shortcoming of this book, although one likely done to keep this book a manageable length, is the near total lack of discussion about the socialist economy or process of socialist construction. In a handful of chapters such as on commodity production and wage systems, the operation of Soviet economy is sometimes brought up but then only briefly and as a contrast to this or that aspect of political economy under capitalism although, it is worth noting, that when the Soviet economy is mentioned, despite how brief these sections are, the information given is generally quite useful and some might still find use in them today for understand the Soviet Union as a whole (although there are definitely better sources actually dedicated to this topic).
On the whole, this book is an unparalleled introduction to political economy for beginners or could serve quite well as a refresher to someone wanting to re-familiarise themselves with this or that aspect of economics, making extensive use of quotations from the classics and relying heavily on statistics where it counts. But those already with a decent grasp of the topic, and especially who have read the heavier works of the classics on economic questions, will more than likely become bored — but then this book was intended for absolute beginners, not experienced students of the political economy.
In terms of simplicity, political economy does not get easier to understand than this although the author in quite a few places does go a bit too far in simplifying things to the point of oversimplification and makes excessive use of very simplistic analogies or examples. To the reader who is totally new to political economy, this would no doubt make comprehension easy, but to anyone more familiar with political economy, the repetitive use of simplistic examples does grow rather tiresome.
The other, and definitely the largest, shortcoming of this book, although one likely done to keep this book a manageable length, is the near total lack of discussion about the socialist economy or process of socialist construction. In a handful of chapters such as on commodity production and wage systems, the operation of Soviet economy is sometimes brought up but then only briefly and as a contrast to this or that aspect of political economy under capitalism although, it is worth noting, that when the Soviet economy is mentioned, despite how brief these sections are, the information given is generally quite useful and some might still find use in them today for understand the Soviet Union as a whole (although there are definitely better sources actually dedicated to this topic).
On the whole, this book is an unparalleled introduction to political economy for beginners or could serve quite well as a refresher to someone wanting to re-familiarise themselves with this or that aspect of economics, making extensive use of quotations from the classics and relying heavily on statistics where it counts. But those already with a decent grasp of the topic, and especially who have read the heavier works of the classics on economic questions, will more than likely become bored — but then this book was intended for absolute beginners, not experienced students of the political economy.
December 11, 2020
The best introduction to this subject I've ever read, it covers the important parts of Marx's "Capital" including bits and pieces from subsequent volumes (many summaries only cover the first) as well as from Lenin's "Imperialism." It is a good guide for those who want a general overview either and an introduction or just don't have enough time to get a full understanding.
April 21, 2026
The analysis of capitalist economy is a good summary of Marx’s critiques, but the sections on the socialist MoP fall into platitudes for the soviet model and SIOC slop. Read all the chapters except for the last 3.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews