KARL MARX and FREDERICK ENGELS: An Introduction to Their Lives and Work

by David Riazanov, Dirk Jan Struik (Introduction), Joshua Kunitz (Translator)

Just after the Russian revolution, David Riazanov initiated a conference in Moscow to consider Marxism, not simply from a theoretical standpoint but Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as practical revolutionaries. This book, published for the first time in Spanish, remains the best introduction to the life and ideas of Marx and Engels.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Politics, Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

David Riazanov was a political revolutionary, Marxist theoretician, and archivist. Riazanov is best remembered as the founder of the Marx-Engels Institute and editor of the first large-scale effort to publish the collected works of these two founders of the modern socialist movement. Riazanov is also remembered as a prominent victim of the Great Terror of the late 1930s.

Reviews

[Nihan D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazar, Marx ve Engels'in hayatları, tanışmaları ve 1. enternasyonalin kuruluş ve yıkılış aşamalarını sade ve güzel bir biçimde ele alıyor. Ernest Mandel'in kitabı ile birlikte ön giriş için güzel bir ikinci kaynak bana göre.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Sweezy's blurb on the back cover promised an interesting book with an interesting history. The contents did not, unfortunately, deliver. About 1/4 of the book is about Marx or Engels. About 1/4 of that is about their ideas. The rest is general history of political ideas in the 19th century (Sweezy says that this is a good example of Marxist history writing, but the focus is firmly on the superstructure, if you will, rather than economic trends). While a full fifth of the book is about the daily toil of the IWA, there is *nothing* about Capital or its ideas. The Communist Manifesto gets a page and a half treatment. I don't know the circumstances in Russia in 1927 well enough to comment on why this is the case--perhaps the notoriously theory-deaf Stalin didn't want to be reminded of complicated ideas--but this book is not really a biography nor an introduction to Marx and Engels' ideas. It's not bad in its discussion of the historical period, and reads as an interesting document of its times. But it is not what the blurb promises.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical introduction.

[Dilan Ayyıldız · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marx ve Engels’in hayatını, marksizmin doğuşunu en temel hatlarıyla anlatan bu kitap Marksist okumalara başlangıç için giriş niteliğinde görülebilir. Marx’ın siyasi dehasının işçi hareketlerine nasıl yön çizdiğini, önemli siyasi dönemeçlerdeki tavrının ve düşünme biçiminin bugün bizlere hala nasıl yol gösterdiğini basit bir anlatımla kavratan bir kitap.

‘Marksizmle ilgili okumalara nereden başlamalıyım?’ sorusunu soranlar için başlangıç için önerilebilecek bir kitap.

[João Ladeia · Rating 4 out of 5]

esse livro se trata de uma biografia soviética datada de 1924 dos fundadores do socialismo científico (como demonstra o título). e para mim, o maior acerto da obra é o autor se utilizar do próprio método marxista na escrita da obra (no caso o Materialismo Histórico), além de que é uma ótima porta de entrada para conhecer o Marxismo

[Kebikec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marksizm hakkında düzgün bir okuma yapmak isteyenlerin ilk okuyacağı kitaplardan biri bu olmalı bence.
Kitaplarda geçen pek çok isim kimdir neyi temsil eder, o dönem ne gibi gelişmeler oldu sorularını cevaplıyor. Öteki türlü marksist kitaplar okur için isim çorbasına dönebilir.

[Nathan Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat less vulgar than could be expected given the circumstances, which is still to say quite. Still is of enough historical interest to justify itself.

[Marcelo Catepillán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un excelente acercamiento al pensamiento y acción de Marx y Engels (principalmente acción).

[Martina Libros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi compra mexicana después de visitar la tumba de trotski desde fuera porque estaba cerrado e tonces no ví nada pero estuve cerca

[David Rodish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The villains in my to-be-written book will be named Mikhail Bukanin and Ben Disraeli

[Tommy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marx was a smoker. Herr Vogt was a justified use of his time. Bakunin was a scoundrel. Lumpenproletariat bad. Doesn't touch upon Engels enough to justify the title... other characters like Lassalle get just as much attention. A partisan perspective useful for its author.

[Roy Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explained the situation in which Marx and Engels found themselves. It is as much about the geopolitical situation in Europe from 1840-1870 as it is about Marx’s theories. But it gives you a good idea of what Marx was trying to do with his writings..the situations to which he was responding. Engels doesn’t get enough attention.