"The Philosophers have only interpretedthe world," wrote Karl Marx in 1845; "the point is to changeit." Hence his blaxing expose of the Victorian era's new capitalist world, Das Kapital, whose ideas would affect the lives of millions of people and alter the course of world history.

Francis Wheen paints a Dickensian picture of Marx's twenty-year fight to complete his masterpiece. Conceived in a two-room apartment in London amid political squabbles and personal tragedy, Das Kapital went on to influence countless progressive thinkers, writers and revolutionaries. As long as capitalism and its discontents endure, this seminal work demands to be read and understood.