Das Kapital

Das Kapital is the work Karl Marx spent 30 years developing. Drawing on years of studying capitalism in England, then the most advanced industrial society in his time, the book sets out a complex theory of how capitalism is structured and how it functions. It discusses the nature of commodities, wages, and the work-capitalist relationship, while keeping its focus on the nature, development, and future of the capitalist system. Of its three volumes, only the first was published by Marx; Friedrich Engels prepared the other two from Marx's notes.

Why You Should Read?

• Understand a complex theory about the structure and function of the capitalist system.
• Follow the book's focus on the nature, development, and future of capitalism.
• Learn how years of studying capitalism in England shaped the theory presented here.

About the Author

Karl Marx was a German thinker in philosophy, society and politics, journalism and revolutionary socialism. He developed historical materialism, studying how society is structured and changes, especially through class conflict in capitalist systems, and expected communism to replace capitalism. With Friedrich Engels he wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848, and in Das Kapital he criticised classical political economy. His birthplace was Trier, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, and he received a philosophy doctorate from the University of Jena in 1841. His ideas, called Marxism, shaped intellectual, political and social history and inspired revolutionary movements in many lands.