The Adventures of the Communist Manifesto - Paperback

by Hal Draper (Author)

At this date, it is unnecessary to explain the continuing concern with a short pamphlet published over a century and a half ago. Page for page, no other publication has rivaled the historical impact of the Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The oft-repeated statement that the Manifesto gained no attention whatever when it first came off the press is, to be sure, inaccurate. But it is certainly true that, decade by decade, the significance of the Manifesto increased, until now it blankets most of the globe. The number of books and essays which, in whole or in part, devote long discussions and evaluations to the views of the Manifesto-for and against-is enough to fill this book from cover to cover. But this book is not one of them. It is, logically, anterior to all of them for the following reason.

Author Biography

Hal Draper is the author of the five-volume study of Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution copublished with Monthly Review Press. A socialist journalist and author for many years, Mr. Draper has published articles in such journals as Etudes de Marxologie, New Politics, and Le Contrat Social. He was the editor of the Independent Socialist journal Labor Action from 1948 to 1958. Other books available from the Center for Socialist History include Socialism from Below, Berkeley: The New Student Revolt. Mr. Draper also wrote a verse translation of the works of Heine published by Suhrkamp/Insel