The extensive readings collected here cover all the main areas of Marx's work, stretching from the early 1840s to the early 1880s. Longer selections from the major texts, such as "Capital, The Communist Manifesto "and "The German Ideology, "are complemented with shorter but crucial passages from his less familiar works.

Pierson's extensive introduction guides the novice reader through the most important and exciting elements in Marx's work. He offers not just a concise and lucid guide to Marx's thought but also shows us why we still need to read Marx after the collapse of Communism. Whatever has been the fate of Marxism, Marx remains, as this book shows, a key figure for our own times.