The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848)
“Two German philosophers in exile write a 48-page pamphlet calling for the overthrow of everything — and it reshapes the next 170 years of human history more than any novel, constitution, or scripture published in the same century.”
Short Summary
Marx and Engels argue that all of recorded history is the history of class struggle — freeman versus slave, lord versus serf, bourgeois versus proletarian. The modern bourgeoisie, having revolutionized production and conquered the feudal order, has created its own gravedigger: an industrial working class with nothing to lose and the collective power to overthrow the entire system. The Manifesto lays out a program for communist revolution, critiques rival socialist movements, and closes with the most famous call to arms in political literature: 'Workers of the world, unite!'
Detailed Summary
The Communist Manifesto opens with one of the great opening lines in Western prose: 'A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of Communism.' Marx and Engels were commissioned by the Communist League in London to write a short statement of principles. What they produced in early 1848 was published ...