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Liefde En Kapitaal (2011)

by Mary Gabriel(Favorite Author)

4.14 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Uitgeverij Bert Bakker

review 1: Absolutely fascinating. I was completely sucked into this human portrait of Karl, Jenny, Friedrich (Engels), and their wider family -- whether biologically related or not. Drawing from extensively archived personal letters, Gabriel manages to give a very detailed and intimate look into the up-and-down personal lives of that famous revolutionary circle. She also does a bang-up job explaining the historical context and the development of Karl Marx's theories. The book humanizes Karl and Friedrich, as well as bringing the contributions of Jenny Marx, Helene Demuth, Jenny Marx II, Laura Marx, Eleanor Marx, Freddy Demuth, and even Mary Burns and Lizzy Burns into the light. None of these people is perfect, or portrayed as such -- some Marxists, for instance, might be disturbed t... moreo read that Karl fathered a child with Helene Demuth and let Friedrich Engels take responsibility to avoid scandal. Most upsetting is that this remained a family secret until well after Karl's death.Ultimately, though, the Marx family remain people who are easy to love, both for their idiosyncracies and for their sacrifices to a vision of a better world. By the end I had deeper admiration for Karl & Friedrich, as well newly discovered heroes in Karl's wife and daughters. Plus even more anger at the political economy that oppressed them right along with so many others.
review 2: Most interesting and informative. So many of today's problems are similar to those existent 150 years ago when Marx was formulating his ideas. The author avoids, for the most part, editorializing or speculating and sticks to reportage based on voluminous research which is footnoted so that about 25% of the book is documentation. While Marx was ultimately too idealistic and sought to create a classless society which will never come to pass, his exploration of the basic wrongs of capitalism which need to be controlled have contributed to economic theory and his influence on the world needs to be understood within the historical perspectives provided in this book. less

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