Karl Marx Books
Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, and political theorist. He is best known as the co-founder of Marxism and the author of seminal works such as Capital and The Communist Manifesto.
Known for: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, The Communist Manifesto
Books by Karl Marx
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy is Karl Marx’s foundational analysis of the capitalist system. In this first volume, Marx explores the nature of commodities, labor, value, and surplus value, ...
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1 is Karl Marx’s foundational analysis of the capitalist system. First published in 1867, it explores the nature of commodities, value, surplus value, ...
The Communist Manifesto
Published in 1848 on the eve of revolutionary upheaval across Europe, The Communist Manifesto is one of the most consequential political texts ever written. In a short but explosive work, Karl Marx an...
Key Insights from Karl Marx
Commodity and Value
All wealth in capitalist society appears first as an immense accumulation of commodities. The commodity is the cell-form of the capitalist mode of production. It seems simple—a thing that satisfies human needs—but beneath that simplicity lies profound complexity. Every commodity simultaneously posse...
From Capital: A Critique of Political Economy
Labor Theory of Value
To understand how value originates, we must focus on labor itself—the measure of all value under capitalism. The classical economists were correct to identify labor as the source of value, but they failed to grasp that labor becomes value only when it takes the social form appropriate to commodity p...
From Capital: A Critique of Political Economy
Commodities and Value
Every investigation of capitalism must begin from its simplest, most elemental form — the commodity. A commodity is a thing that satisfies human wants, whether by direct consumption or by use in production. Yet under capitalism, the commodity is more than an object; it is the cell-form of this entir...
From Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
The Dual Character of Labor
Labor, within the capitalist mode of production, is double. On one hand, it is concrete labor — weaving, mining, carpentry — that produces particular use-values. On the other, it is abstract labor — human labor in general, stripped of its specific form — that produces value. Only when commodities ar...
From Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
History Moves Through Class Conflict
One of the manifesto’s most provocative claims is that the engine of history is not moral progress, national destiny, or brilliant rulers, but struggle between classes. Marx and Engels argue that every society has been organized around material production: who owns land, tools, factories, and resour...
From The Communist Manifesto
The Bourgeoisie Revolutionized the World
Few political texts are as critical of capitalism as The Communist Manifesto, yet few also describe its historical achievements with such force. Marx and Engels portray the bourgeoisie, the class that owns capital and controls production, as a revolutionary power that shattered feudal boundaries and...
From The Communist Manifesto
About Karl Marx
Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, and political theorist. He is best known as the co-founder of Marxism and the author of seminal works such as Capital and The Communist Manifesto.
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Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, and political theorist. He is best known as the co-founder of Marxism and the author of seminal works such as Capital and The Communist Manifesto.
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