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KARL MARX: Founder of Modern Communism by Arnold Kettle

KARL MARX: Founder of Modern Communism

By

Pub Date: March 16th, 1964
Publisher: Roy

The first chapter describes the circumstances of Marx's life. The four chapters that follow examine the philosopher's writings for his approach to economics; his interpretation of history' his concept of the transitional socialist state; and finally an overview of his philosophy in toto. The digested reading of Marx's works is presented without critical appraisal or much attempt to relate the course of Russian communism to its philosophical base. This is particularly obvious in the final chapter which discusses ""Do Marx's Ideas Matter Today?"". Here, the allusions to recent history in satellite nations seem more selective than probing. It features an international list of eminent fellow travelers without annotation. There is a rather startling statement that in the '30's ""Marxism ceased to be fashionable"", without any reference to the Moscow Trials or the Hitler-Stalin pact, which are generally conceded to have caused the wave of revulsion and re-examination that took place among parlor pinks. This is a British import and the words ""socialism"" and ""Marxist"" may not have the same temperature raising qualities that they do here. (Our choice is the Gerald W. Johnson book, reviewed earlier in these pages, for its balance and its attention to basic definitions.)