Introduction to Marx and Engels: A Critical Reconstruction

by Richard Schmitt

Book Overview

This book steers a middle path between those who argue that the theories of Marx and Engels have been rendered obsolete by historical events and those who reply that these theories emerge untouched from the political changes of the last ten years.Marxism has been a theory of historical change that claimed to be able to predict with considerable accuracy how existing institutions were going to change. Marxism has also been a political program designed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813304261
• ISBN13: 9780813304267
• Release Date: August 1987
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Amazingly insightful!

I have been trying to get an understanding of Marx/Engels that I could be comfortable with for years. This is it! Written without having to excise Lenin/Stalin/Trotsky/Mao to understand it. Mr. Schmitt is right-on with his very readable description of the nature of bourgeois hegemony of political power within the modern state. He is very honest with the reader about where he thinks the holes are in Marx's theories. This should be required reading for anyone on the "Left", as well as for any young person attempting to understand how our society really works.

Explains complex philosophical insights without jargon.

Too often Marx and Engels are reduced to philosophical caricatures in order to serve an author's own agenda. Richard Schmitt's book is noteworth for his careful analysis of the enduring issues and insights of Marx and Engels. I enjoyed this refreshing reminder of what all the fuss was about.