內容簡介

馬克思是世界上影響最大也最具爭議的政治思想家。除了政治，他也是個哲學家、經濟學家、歷史學家、共產黨主義者、文學家，他的學說對於許多領域都有相當大的影響，一生中發表了大量的著作，尤其以和恩格斯共同創作的《共產黨宣言》以及成為許多現代經濟學說基礎的《資本論》。

因其共產主義的學說，被法國政府視為威脅，隨後流放到英國倫敦，並安靜在此結束一生。馬克思思想在蘇聯垮台後似乎以走下世界政治舞台，但因近年的經濟危機、社會不公以及資本主義引起的種種問題，新的一代再次研讀馬克思主義。

這樣偉大的人物、經典的學說是否被充分理解了？馬克思究竟是怎麼樣的一個人物？是什麼因素構成了他對現代社會的批判？

本書即為馬克思的最新傳記，作者格雷果‧克萊斯是知名的社會學者、歷史學家，他用簡單易懂的方法說明馬克思的思想以及其後續發展，一路從十九世紀講到現代社會，或許馬克思將為現代的紛擾再次提出一個解決方法。

An illuminating overview of Marx's intellectual influence from a leading historian of socialism

Why was Marx so successful as a thinker? Did he have a system and if so, what does it consist of? How did Marxism develop in the twentieth century and what does it mean today?

Karl Marx remains the most influential and controversial political thinker in history. The movements associated with his name have lent hope to many victims of tyranny and aggression but have also proven disastrous in practice and resulted in the unnecessary deaths of millions. If after the collapse of the Soviet Union his reputation seemed utterly eclipsed, a new generation is reading and discovering Marx in the wake of the recurrent financial crises, growing social inequality and an increasing sense of the injustice and destructiveness of capitalism. Both his critique of capitalism and his vision of the future speak across the centuries to our times, even if the questions he poses are more difficult to answer than ever.

In this wide-ranging account, Gregory Claeys, one of Britain's leading historians of socialism, considers Marx's ideas and their development through the Russian Revolution to the present, showing why Marx and Marxism still matter today.