The Political Writings

by Karl Marx, Tariq Ali (Foreword), David Fernbach (Editor)

Karl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism. He was also a superb journalist, politician, and historian. This book brings together all of his essential political and historical writings in one volume for the first time. These works allow us to see the depth and range of thought in the mature Marx, covering a period from the tumultuous revolutions of 1848 that rocked Europe through to the end of his life. With a foreword by Tariq Ali, and including The Communist Manifesto, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, The Class Struggles in France, and The Critique of the Gotha Programme, this volume shows Marx at his most astute, analysing the forces of global capitalism as they played out in the world around him.

Genres: Politics, History, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Essays

1136 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 1973

About the author

With the help of Friedrich Engels, German philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894), works, which explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form many regimes, and profoundly influenced the social sciences.

German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin in London opposed Communism of Karl Marx with his antithetical anarchy.

Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).

The Prussian kingdom introduced a prohibition on Jews, practicing law; in response, a man converted to Protestantism and shortly afterward fathered Karl Marx.

Marx began co-operating with Bruno Bauer on editing Philosophy of Religion of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (see Democritus and Epicurus), doctoral thesis, also engaged Marx, who completed it in 1841. People described the controversial essay as "a daring and original piece... in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom." Marx decided to submit his thesis not to the particularly conservative professors at the University of Berlin but instead to the more liberal faculty of University of Jena, which for his contributed key theory awarded his Philosophiae Doctor in April 1841. Marx and Bauer, both atheists, in March 1841 began plans for a journal, entitled Archiv des Atheismus (Atheistic Archives), which never came to fruition.

Marx edited the newspaper Vorwärts! in 1844 in Paris. The urging of the Prussian government from France banished and expelled Marx in absentia; he then studied in Brussels. He joined the league in 1847 and published.

Marx participated the failure of 1848 and afterward eventually wound in London. Marx, a foreigner, corresponded for several publications of United States.
He came in three volumes. Marx organized the International and the social democratic party.

Marx in a letter to C. Schmidt once quipped, "All I know is that I am not a Marxist," as Warren Allen Smith related in Who's Who in Hell .

People describe Marx, who most figured among humans. They typically cite Marx with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, the principal modern architects.

Bertrand Russell later remarked of non-religious Marx, "His belief that there is a cosmic ... called dialectical materialism, which governs ... independently of human volitions, is mere mythology" ( Portraits from Memory , 1956).

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bi...
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/...
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

Reviews

[Blandinus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finishing this, I think reading this alongside with Marx's economic writings is pretty essential. It details his stances on tactics and strategies against capital that are otherwise missing in his economical works. Especially his stance on the state and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, which a lot of people seem to mix up and confuse. Reading this also lead me to think that there's very little in terms of difference between anarchism and marxism really. The only difference is that he advocates for parliamentary election and agitation. But clearly in the end he does believe that a revolution has to take place for the working class to win the class struggle.

Anyways clears up a lot myths and weird ideas that people on the left seem to attribute to (and that otherwise perhaps reify) his thoughts.

[Morgan]

Most of the important texts are here: the manifesto, the Eighteenth Brumaire, the Gotha critique. What makes this collection valuable in particular is that it shows how Marx changed over time. The introductions are really good, providing summaries of the most important developments and so on. This collection is not afraid to show Marx's weak sides either - questionable texts about India, Russia, and so on are included alongside the classics. Noticeably, however, the later development in his analysis of Russian conditions is only briefly covered in the introduction to the third volume. That topic is the subject of another Verso publication, but the interpretive essays (Part I) in that collection are quite bad. The second chapter of Marcello Musto's The Last Years of Karl Marx works as a substitute introduction to Part II.

[Malia Losa · Rating 4 out of 5]

we have nothing to lose but our squirrel chains :)

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 3 volume series was given to me (boxed set) in the late 70's. I have it still. It is filled w my earnest young notations, done with a notably firmer and less shaky hand than I have now.

If you are a serious student of Marx, have read The Communist Manifesto and want something approachable and easy to handle, this is a great next place to go. You will probably have to buy it used, but it is the most manageable edition I have found to date. Print is a good size; plenty of room in the margins.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massive book collecting Marx's political writings. I am not going to write a full review because I only read about half, selecting the writings I was interested in. There are three introductions by David Fernbach that make up a 150 page biography of Marx's life and political activity. I found it very helpful. I skipped most of Marx's speeches and German newspaper articles. The 18th Brumaire is the highlight of this collection. Great writing and some useful political insights to be gleaned out of the specific events of Louis Napoleon's coup. The Class Struggles in France: 1848-50 are very topical and journalistic, written as a day by day summary of political events. If you aren't well versed in the minutia of the 1848 revolution this one is difficult to follow. There are interesting articles on India; Marx is trying to work out his position on the imperialist relationship to the colony. The documents on the First International are fascinating to me. Marx simplified and broadened his political struggle. He makes a conscious effort to bring people in and then educate them. He says something to the tune of: Gentle in style, strong in action. I think this is smart politics and the opposite of what radical left parties do today. The Civil War in France is fiery but I think he gives too much credit to the Paris Commune. It really achieved nothing other than showing the falsity behind nationalist bourgeois conflict. Finally, I read Critique of the Gotha Programme which is Marx at his most sarcastic and condescending, its a good one.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read every single word of this behemoth, but I did veer outside the absolute necessary classics a bit. In particular, I found the Neue Rheinische Zeitung writings to be absolutely gripping, containing a whole theory of constituent/revolutionary power and sovereignty that I did not know existed in Marx's ouvre. As a volume, it's a bit unwieldly (this was originally 3 books), and I skipped the long introductions - maybe worth returning to at some point. and i was pretty shocked that the infamous letters to Zasulich were not included?