Marx: A Complete Introduction: Teach Yourself

by Gill Hands

Is this the right book for me?

A Complete Introduction will familiarize you with the revolutionary thinking of this significant man. It will take you through all the essential concepts - from class struggle to dialectical materialism. Expressing Marx's sometimes complex ideas in simple terms, and backed up with references to his own texts, this book gives you everything you need to know.

A Complete Introduction

Chapter 1: Marx's early life
Europe at the time of Marx
The early life of Marx
University life
Life as a journalist
The Communist Manifesto
Exile

Chapter 2: Marx's later life
The move to London
Family life in London
Marx and Engels
Work in London
Das Kapital
The International
The later years

Chapter 3: Marx and philosophy
A brief history of philosophy
Which philosophers influenced Marx?
Ancient Greek philosophers
European philosophy
Utopian Socialists
Revolutionaries and anarchists
The importance of Hegel and Feuerbach
How did Marx differ from those who went before?
Political economy
What part did Engels play?

Chapter 4: Economic theory
Dialectical materialism, historical materialism and economy
The capitalist economy
Commodities
Theory of surplus value
Profit and the division of labour
Capitalism in crisis
Falling wages and profits
Social labour
Accumulation and crisis
Centralization of the economy
Was Marx right about the economy?

Chapter 5: Economy and society
Imperialism and colonialism
Fetishism
Exploitation

Chapter 6: Class, class struggle and revolution
Introduction
The development of capitalist society
Dialectical materialism and class structure
Class in the capitalist society
Ideology
Class struggle
Workers' power and education
The Communist League and class struggle
The International Working Men's Association
Is revolution inevitable?

Chapter 7: Further Marxist thought
After the revolution
Communist society
Religion
Women's rights and the family
Art and culture
Freedom and the individual

Chapter 8: Marxism after Marx - ideas that changed the world
The spread of Marxist thought
The development of socialism
Russian communism
Chinese communism
The Cold War
The decline of communism
Has Marxism failed?

Chapter 9: Marxism after Marx - the development of Marxist thought
Types of Marxism
Where does Marx fit in?
Is Marxism relevant in the twenty-first century?
The future

Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive

Author insights
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.

Test yourself
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.

Five things to remember
Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts.

Try this
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Genres: History, Politics, Theory, Economics, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2007

Reviews

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid introduction to the life and works of Karl Marx, I think that it does a great job of summarizing his life, the evolution of his thought, the impact of his ideas, and how they have been built upon since. I think it leaves the reader in a great place to start reading Marx's work for themselves. I have two issues with the book though. The first is that I think it could have used more direct quotations rather than just telling the reader what Marx said. Second, it seemed like there was a bit of a disconnect between what the main text was saying and some of the highlights/summaries that were added. I'm not sure if the author was responsible for both parts or not, but it seemed a bit jarring to me at points. Aside from those two issues, I think that it's a great introduction and would recommend it to people interested in the subject.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think some people criticised the use of simple language as being plain and unengaging; I thought it was to great benefit that this book used simple language.
Marx is a very well known thinker of the 19th century but, from my experience, is vaguely known as a thinker and is not pinned down to a particular field of academics. Marxism, as well, is a well known ideology, but it is abstruse and could be difficult to grasp for someone unfamiliar with his work, as I was.
I found it excellent that this book was written in simple language as Marxist ideas were conveyed to me without being verbose and clouded in opinion. This book is structured as informative as possible, keeping its writing factual and serious, so as to easily help a person absorb the knowledge and 'Teach' themself.

[Ali Rehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I followed up Marx autobiography by reading this book It gives the readers a quick overview of the founder of Marxism

[Nick Tramdack · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess this is an okay introduction to Marx, in that if you don't know anything about Marx, you'll know more after reading than you did before.

But if you really want to read Marx, you should probably just read some of Marx's key texts (like the 18th Brumaire or the Communist Manifesto or even some of Capital) with some sort of outline or companion to help you with the Hegelian stuff and the references to now-out-of-fashion political economists like David Ricardo. This book doesn't teach much you can't get for free on Wikipedia.

I'm not going to claim to understand Marx, but I do know enough to tell that this book oversimplifies a lot. It might be worth your time to challenge yourself and just go with the original.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book to refresh my knowledge on Marx's theories. It achieved what I had in mind and a little more. This is a book written in very simple language to help people grasp Marxist theories and concepts. Do not expect a highly academic book full of Marxist jargon. It breaks down very difficult concepts to grasp into understandable chunks (and at times oversimplifies).

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m familiar with Karl Marx, and I have read some of his works over the years. Nonetheless, if you know nothing about him, the environment he lived in, why he said the things he said, and where he went wrong on somethings, then this book may help you. It will not make you an expert on the subject matter, but it will help you to become more informed.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative but plain.