Capital Volumes 1 and 2 — Karl Marx

Few writers have had a more demonstrable impact on the development of the modern world than has Karl Marx 1818 1883 Born in Trier into a middle class Jewish family in 1818 by the time of his death in London in 1883 Marx claimed a growing international reputation Of central importance then and later was his book Das Kapital or as it is known to English readers simply Capital Volume One of Capital was published in Paris in 1867 This was the only volume published during Marx s lifetime and the only to have come directly from his pen Volume Two published in 1884 was based on notes Marx left but written by his friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels 1820 1895 Readers from the nineteenth century to the present have been captivated by the unmistakable power and urgency of this classic of world literature Marx s critique of the capitalist system is rife with big themes his theory of surplus value his discussion of the exploitation of the working class and his forecast of class conflict on a grand scale Marx wrote with purpose As he famously put it Philosophers have previously tried to explain the world our task is to change it