The Communist Manifesto (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
Creator: Gareth Stedman Jones
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $8.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  253 reviews
Sales Rank: 4939
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0140447571
Dewey Decimal Number: 335.422
EAN: 9780140447576
ASIN: 0140447571
Publication Date: August 27, 2002
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Amazon.com Review
"A spectre is haunting Europe," Karl Marx and Frederic Engels wrote in 1848, "the spectre of Communism." This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, commemorating the 150th anniversary of its publication, includes an introduction by renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm which reminds us of the document's continued relevance. Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles.
Product Description
Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the worldview Marx and Engels developed during their hectic intellectual and political collaboration. Formulating the principles of dialectical materialism, they believed that labor creates wealth, hence capitalism is exploitive and antithetical to freedom.
This new edition includes an extensive introduction by Gareth Stedman Jones, Britain's leading expert on Marx and Marxism, providing a complete course for students of The Communist Manifesto, and demonstrating not only the historical importance of the text, but also its place in the world today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 248 more reviews...
 Raising Cain November 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This brilliantly written book neatly explains communism in brief, cogent, powerful language. All societies except for primitive tribal ones are built on class struggle. The struggle involves the few exploiting the many for their labor. The social phases of society are scientifically determined and unvarying: first tribal, then feudal, then bourgeois, then proletarian.
The feudal society, ruled by kings and aristocrats, exploits the masses as slaves, serfs, and craftsmen. The bourgeois society overthrows the aristocracy and continues the exploitation of the masses, who are now workers rather than slaves. The workers finally revolt against their bourgeois masters, abolish private property, and put the means of production into the hands of the state.
Marx's simple theory is compelling, sustained by countless historical examples and by his analysis of the relationship between capital and labor. He drives home the point by analyzing the pernicious effects of capital when work becomes a commodity that drives workers into subsistence existence. The world is filled with sweatshops and factories every bit as horrific as the ones Marx described in early 19th Century England, and the common denominator certainly seems to be the limitless desire to concentrate capital in the hands of those individuals and shareholders who control the means of production.
The Kindle introduction to this book points out that it's unfair and impossible to criticize Marx since no society has ever truly implemented his vision of communism. On the other hand, Marx's argument that the proletarian revolution and abolition of private property is inexorable in the developed bourgeois state has not been borne out.
The Communist Manifesto is a quick and compelling read, and a masterful exposition of the principles of communism. It's a shame I waited this long to finally read it.
Barak Obamas favourite Book October 22, 2008
1 out of 18 found this review helpful
Barak Obama is a muslim and this is his way of taking over america with communism .....slavery is commensurate with islam and this book is his means to the end of moving ever faster towards an american islamic caliphate
A Utopian society gone south in practice August 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The idea of this book is simple enough: it's Marx's and Engels' concept and plan for a totally fair society where everything is shared and everyone is (supposedly) equal.
The problem is, "...absolute power corrupts absolutely," and when authoritarian dictators implement these ideas it always results in two percent of the people having everything and the remaining ninety-eight percent having nothing.
The core focus of this political persuasion is on "the worker". It evolved from a prior eternity of monarchs dominating the poor and a response to the scourge of serfdom. Ultimately, Lenin used "The Communist Manifesto" as a means of promoting the Russian Revolution which ultimately became the cultural horror which the rest of us came to know as The Soviet Union. In other words, it provided the basis for a ploy on the part of the Bolsheviks (Communist Party).
During the years of Communism, the Soviet workers used to convey a covertly-spoken credo: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". That pretty much sums up how Marx's and Engels' plan played out in actual practice.
Strangely, few people ever make the observation that the ideas of Marx and Engels were not at all original. Thomas More (1478-1535) conveyed almost the same concept when he scribed his famous work: Thomas More's Utopia. In fact, people who have obviously never read "Utopia" would clearly not cite it as "the ideal society" if they were even slightly apprised of the numerous horrors of that fictional society. And so goes "The Communist Manifesto" in actual practice.
Still, this is an incredible, eye-opening read and we SHOULD read it if for no other reason than to see how mans' best-laid plans can easily go awry. Highly recommended.
 Good in theory May 11, 2008
7 out of 36 found this review helpful
Kinda a pointless book now that communism has been proven ineffective. I guess if you still want to live in this type of society you can move to Russa, China, Cuba etc. Lucky for them they have the US to give them foreign aid. Communism would be dead within a few decades without a capitolistic nation to support it.
Communist brainwashing propaganda April 17, 2008
5 out of 30 found this review helpful
Communism is dead as a doornail. Those who think otherwise are simply brainwashed by propaganda and completely ignorant of world history. The Soviet Union collapsed after decades of backwardness and Marxism, not that its economic failure was ever in doubt. Their pseudo-"industrialization" caused huge famines that killed tens of millions, and did not reduce the technological lag that persisted for decades - they were in the stone ages technologically. They were only saved in World War II by American lend-lease shipments, and then donations of grain and wheat. The Soviet Union was a failure, and was lagging behind the West in industrial production, agriculture, military strength, applied science, everything. Their physical indices and statistics (along with the alleged achievements of the military and space program) were proven to be bungled lies and propaganda. Their Marxist economists were incompetent, and failed to solve any planning problems. Those who deny these historical facts are just as pathetic and ignorant as Holocaust deniers or flat-Earthers. Cuba hardly fared any better - it was ruled by a brutal dictatorship, and it is lost to history how many millions were also killed by famines and harebrained government schemes. Those who still doubt this need to WAKE UP, get some sunlight and stop reading pseudo-intellectual tracts like this.
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