The definitive introduction to history’s most influential and controversial political document, updated for a new generation of readers.
Since it was first written in 1848, The Communist Manifesto has been translated into more languages than any other modern text. All across the world—in countless places and idioms—it has been debated, shared, brandished, invoked, banned, burned, and even declared “dead.” But in an era of escalating political, economic, health, and environmental crises, Marx and Engels’ fierce indictment of capitalism is more relevant than ever, and their Manifesto remains required reading from the classroom to the picket line.
Scholar Phil Gasper draws on his decades of teaching and organizing experience to produce a beautifully organized edition of the Manifesto that brings the text to life. By fully annotating the Manifesto with clear historical references and explication, a glossary, and including additional related texts, Gasper provides an accessible and comprehensive reference edition suited to first-time readers and dedicated partisans alike.
Frederick Engels was born in 1820. In 1842 Engels went to Manchester to represent the family firm. Relationships there inspired the famous The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. Collaboration with Marx began in 1844 and in 1847 he composed the first drafts of the Manifesto. After Marx's death, he prepared the unfinished volumes of Capital for publication. He died in 1895.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was the author of Capital and co-author of the Manifesto of the Communist Party, among many other philosophical, political, and journalistic writings, and was a co-founder of the International Workingmen’s Association in 1864. He remains one of the most influential political thinkers in the world.
Publication date: March 12, 2024
“In a world of growing inequality, where the wealth of elites condemns hundreds of millions of people to lives of poverty and despair and whose greed and insatiable pursuit of even greater profit has put life itself on the planet in peril, the words of Marx and Engels emblazoned in the Communist Manifesto have never rung more true: the proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Longtime socialist Phil Gasper brings one of the world’s most important texts to life in new and important ways in this updated, annotated version. For everyone from new readers to those who have held onto their copies for years, Gasper brings fresh insights in a brand new context to the world’s most famous pamphlet at a time when its rousing call to action has never been more important.”
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation
“An indispensable guide to an indispensable document. The new edition of this outstanding, trailblazing work could not be more welcome.”
—China Miéville, author of A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto
“Phil Gasper’s new edition of The Communist Manifesto comes at a critical moment in world history, when a global capitalism which Marx described with amazing accuracy a hundred and fifty years ago shows all the signs of disarray that he predicted. What Gasper does is to remind us how relevant the Manifesto is to our world today. His Introduction and Afterword are useful guides to the Manifesto and to its importance in our time. His notes give us fascinating tidbits of information which a thoughtful reader of the Manifesto will find extremely valuable. Gasper brings alive one of the great classics of modern political thought, an indispensable addition to anyone’s library.”
—Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States
“The more those in power reject and ignore Marx and his ideas, the more the world comes to resemble the barbaric social system Marx predicted capitalism was in the process of becoming. Therefore, Marx’s ideas are becoming more and more relevant to understand what we see before us. This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, with its excellent informative notes and commentaries, enables the reader to appreciate this document both historically and theoretically, both in relation to its own time and in relation to the realities around us.”
—Allen Wood, Indiana University
“Distinguished from all other English-language editions currently in print in two critical ways: (1) it is a fully annotated edition, and (2) it provides much needed corrections to the 1888 Samuel Moore translation supervised by Engels…. In addition to the text of the Manifesto itself and the annotations, the book includes a clear, accessible introduction by Gasper and a useful afterword. In the latter he replies to criticisms of the Manifesto (some emanating from the left) and demonstrates its continuing relevance. The numerous appendices to the book include all the prefaces to the Manifesto, Engels’s ‘Principles of Communism,’ and a generous collection of extracts from Marx and Engels’ writings”
—Monthly Review
