The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

Written by Karl Marx

Narrated by Todd McLaren

Widely debated since its publication in 1848, The Communist Manifesto is one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Presenting an analytical approach to the problems of capitalism and the resulting class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the text lays out the rationale and goals of communism as conceived by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This edition of The Communist Manifesto is based on the English edition of 1888. In addition, this collection includes the following essays and writings by Marx, translated by H. J. Stenning: "A Criticism of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right," "On the King of Prussia and Social Reform," "Moralizing Criticism and Critical Morality: A Polemic Against Karl Heinzen," "Proudhon," "French Materialism," and "The English Revolution."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Mar 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452671727

Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, historian, political theorist, journalist and revolutionary socialist. Born in Prussia, he received his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Jena in Germany and became an ardent follower of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Marx was already producing political and social philosophic works when he met Friedrich Engels in Paris in 1844. The two became lifelong colleagues and soon collaborated on "The Communist Manifesto," which they published in London in 1848. Expelled from Belgium and Germany, Marx moved to London in 1849 where he continued organizing workers and produced (among other works) the foundational political document Das Kapital. A hugely influential and important political philosopher and social theorist, Marx died stateless in 1883 and was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London.

Reviews for The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

[ajshackelford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

1 star because almost every chapter is incomplete, making the whole unreadable, but +1 for Marx, whose theories are now more salient than ever, and +1 for the narrator, whose inflection makes Marx's long-winded sentences much easier to comprehend.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short political treatise was very surprisingly disappointing. I have studies the History of Communist Russia quite often and I have a solid background in the ideas and practices of Communism. I understand that the Communism of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin was not completely true to what Marx and Engels envisioned. I was hoping that by reading the Manifesto, I would be able to see what true Communism was supposed to be. It turns out that the ideas are mainly theory and simply arguments against any forms of capitalism. While I can understand the intense antagonism that existed in the mid 19th-century, these ideas no longer seem appropriate. The lives of the working classes have greatly improved, while there is still a great disparity of wealth, the Communist idea seems truly outdated.