Product Description

Friedrich Engels is one of the most attractive and contradictory figures of the nineteenth century. Born to a prosperous mercantile family in west Germany, he spent his career working in the Manchester cotton industry, riding to the Cheshire hounds, and enjoying the comfortable, middle-class life of a Victorian gentleman. Yet Engels was also the co-founder of international communism – the philosophy which in the 20th century came to control one third of the human race. He was the co-author of The Communist Manifesto, a ruthless party tactician, and the man who sacrificed his best years so Karl Marx could write Das Kapital. Tristram Hunt relishes the diversity and exuberance of Engels's era: how one of the great bon viveurs of Victorian Britain reconciled his raucous personal life with this uncompromising political philosophy. Set against the backdrop of revolutionary Europe and industrializing England – of Manchester mills, Paris barricades, and East End strikes – it is a story of devoted friendship, class compromise, ideological struggle, and family betrayal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8748 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

About the Author
Dr Tristram Hunt is one of Britain’s best known young historians. Educated at Cambridge and Chicago Universities, he is lecturer in British history at Queen Mary, University of London and author of ‘Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City.’ A leading historical broadcaster, he has authored numerous series for BBC Radio and Television and Channel 4. A regular contributor to The Times, The Guardian and The Observer, he is a Trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Customer Reviews

Informative biography of Engels marred by editorial line
Tristram Hunt's biography of the great man nicknamed 'The General', the Communist hero Friedrich Engels, is timely in light of the slow revival of Marxism as a consequence of the failure of neoliberalism and the current financial crisis. That is not to say that this is the first English-language biography; besides the old standard biography by Gustav Mayer (Friedrich Engels) there is the excellent short(er) biography by J.D. Hunley (Friedrich Engels: A Reinterpretation of His Life and Thought), in addition to several others.

Hunt's book is of the more contemporary biographies however the most informative one. His command of sources is excellent, and he uses not just the by now familiar memoirs and the manuscripts from that time, but also makes great use of third party sources that are not directly about Engels but which shed a greater light on certain circumstances he lived in or people he knew. Hunt is also very good on providing a general historical background; in particular his descriptions of the shades of German romanticism and their influence as well as the Manchester environment of Engels as factory manager are very well done. These are not likely to be surpassed in English soon. Overall, Hunt's work is fairly balanced with regard to the different aspects and periods of Engels' life, with the interesting observation that unlike almost all prior biographers, he focuses in particular on Engels' private life and activities as industrialist, rather than on the political activities and theory.

In addition to this, Hunt is very critical of both Marx and Engels, which combined with the above give in a certain way a refreshing look at the man as a historical person with his own flaws and downsides. Indeed it is not easy to make an amiable, open-minded and committed progressive as Engels look bad, but Hunt has done his best. This is also the main downside of the book: perhaps it is because of the author's New Labour background, but although he is fair to Engels with regard to many of the clichéd criticisms (that he had betrayed Marxism by falsely popularizing it, or that he was responsible for Stalin, or that he didn't understand Marx himself), Hunt's recurring bouts of hostility toward his subject are somewhat of a stylistic sore. More annoying is the irrelevant lecturing he undertakes regularly towards Engels, whom he tries very hard to depict as a hypocrite and a failure at Communism for not making his lifestyle and personal predilections up to the standard of what Hunt presumably thinks a Communist should really be like (which seems to be extremely austere, fanatically consistent in every aspect of life, and active in nothing but revolutionary politics - oddly enough a perfect description of Lenin, something that presumably hasn't occurred to Hunt!). This editorial line adds nothing to the content of the book, and subtracts from the enjoyment of the otherwise informative and balanced portrayal of Engels' life. As a minor complaint, one can also add that Hunt occasionally repeats some old myths about Marx and Engels that have long been debunked but are too often still received opinion: for example the idea that Marx and Engels never liked real workers when they met them, or that they were mean to the noble Bakunin. These have been well refuted in the excellent 'intellectual biography' of Marx and Engels' politics by Hal Draper: Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution: State and Bureaucracy Pt. 1 (2 Volumes in 1). Usually Hunt is good at evading these traps though, for example in his correct explanation of how Marx & Engels switched from initially supporting the imperialism of greater powers towards smaller ones (or colonies) as the 'march of history' to opposing them under practically all circumstances.

Recommended to read together with the Draper series and Hunley's biography.

"Engels: Marx`s Joint Venture Partner in their Communist enterprise
This is a hugely enjoyable biography of the man and his times. The book is light on ideology although the sections on the predecessors to the Communist ideal ie Saint - Simon and Charles Fourier and his "Theory of the Four Movements", were interesting. Apart from the picture of Engels as the champagne drinking (although he preferred his bottle of Holsten), horsehunting, bon viveur with an eye for the ladies, the real core of the book is his longtime collaboration with Marx and his own contribution to the development of Marxism.
Despite a cool beginning at the start of the relationship, the Marx - Engels friendship and collaboration lasted for almost forty years. During this time, Engels was providing critical financial support to Marx and his family - even after Marx`s death, as well as penning a number of newspaper articles for Marx to claim as his own and receive the financial benefit thereof! There is one letter referred to in which Marx is chivvying Engels to quickly prepare a newspaper article for Marx in order for Marx to meet an editorial deadline, while at the same time Engels is working full time in his father`s Manchester cotton business.
The book refers to Engel`s own contribution to Marxism. Engels was only 24 when he penned "The Condition of the English Working Class" - a book which Marx praised long after. Engels was Marx`s "inside man" in the capitalist system and Marx undoubtedly relied on him for guidance on its workings for his own writings. One of Marx`s weaknesses was his inability to complete some of his researches - only the first volume of his famous "Capital" had ben published by his death. It fell to Engels to assemble and edit the two posthumous volumes of "Capital" as well as to guard the intellectual legacy of his old friend.
Engels also penned "The Dialectics of Nature" and "Origins of the Family" - the former much referred to by Lenin and Plekhanov. Engels therefore can make a full claim to being a key founder of Marxism.
As part of the book`s introduction, the author refers in passing to his visit to Engels - a crumbling, post Soviet town of Engels nestling on the Volga but he should have stayed in Moscow - diagonally opposite the Church of Christ the Saviour (famously dynamited by Stalin`s regime in the 1930s and now rebuilt) and just across from one of the plushest restaurants of modernday Moscow stands a large statue in memory to Engels - the "Frock Coated Communist" himself. I sense that Engels would have enjoyed this particular irony.

Engels: Communist, Revolutionary, Factory Manager, "General", Huntsman, Writer, Feminist and All Round Sound Bloke
This is a fine, readable biography of Friedrich Engels in a similar vein to Francis Wheens Karl Marx but not such a virtuso performance. It more than competently covers Engels rich and varied life, anchoring it in the context of his times, as he journeys from his birth place in Germany to exile in London with more than a few points in between. The tone of the book is generally sound, and not infrequently quite funny - as is Engels. . . and Marx for that matter. There is an element of finger wagging on Hunts part about some of Engels real or alleged misdemeanours, but I rather think M.A. Krul in his above (or below?) review is being rather too sensitive in regarding this as "hostility" towards Engels on Tristram Hunts part.

The philosophical roots and theory of Marxism are clearly explained for those of us, like myself, who are a little light on the nitty gritty of Marxist theory. Developments in Engels wide intellectual interests are giving room as well as his copious writings on issues as diverse as Communism, Science, Feminism, Family and Warfare. His relationship with Marx recieves ample coverage and it is evident from this, and other books Ive read, that they got on like a house on fire: writing to each another daily and when they were both in London they visited each other daily aswell (and this despite Marxs perpetual cadging!). When Marx died Engels looked after his intellectual, aswell as his biological, offspring.

I was sorry that the book had to end which is always a good sign, and while there are a few quibbling problems with the book (which could have done with being polished up a little) I wouldnt hesitate to reccommend it to anyone whether or not they are ideologically committed, or even sympathetic, to Socialism.