The Life and Legacy of Karl Marx

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” – Karl Marx

During the 19th century, Europe witnessed one of history’s most powerful leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte, establish an empire that resulted in the redrawing of the European map after his defeat. But while Europe’s imperialistic nations continued to amass greater power across the globe, one of the 19th century’s most influential Europeans went about changing the status quo at home.

It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the influence Karl Marx has had upon the world in the last 150 years. Marx was an influential historian, journalist and economist who is widely considered one of the first social scientists, but he is best remembered for advocating socialism, particularly the brand that would take his name. As the father of Marxism, Marx predicted that capitalistic societies, ruled by a “dictatorship of the bourgeoise”, would eventually give way via class struggles to a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, and eventually to a more stateless form of communism.

Marx certainly wasn’t the first to espouse these kinds of political views, but nobody before or since had as much influence in actually bringing about the implementation of their ideas. Working with Friedrich Engels and others, Marx went about authoring a series of works, most notably The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Capital (1867-1894), championing his ideas. While Marx laid out the ideological groundwork, many put it into action, leading to the formation of socialist powers in the Soviet Union and China during the first half of the 20th century. Marx’s writings and philosophy had an impact on the social sciences and economic theories, but one of his biographers could comfortably and accurately assert that the political history of the 20th century was “Marx’s legacy”. Whether fairly or not, in the West Marx has become inextricably linked with some of the totalitarian excesses of the regimes that claimed to espouse his ideology, and for that reason Marx is often associated with some of the negative connotations that come with the Soviets. Nevertheless, few would deny the very decisive impact Marxism had on the global landscape, and the ramifications continue to have a political influence today.

Although Marx will forever be most closely associated with socialism and communism, The Fathers of Socialism: The Life and Legacy of Karl Marx looks at his entire life and work in detail, analyzing his ideology and lasting legacy. Along with pictures of important people, places and events in his life, you will learn about Karl Marx like you never have before, in no time at all.

© 2025 Charles River Editors (E-kirja): 9781475333831

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E-kirja: 28. toukokuuta 2025