Product Description

A major biography of the man who, more than any other, made the twentieth century. Written by an author of great repute. The history of the 20th century is Marx's legacy. Not since Jesus Christ has an obscure pauper inspired such global devotion -- or been so calamitously misinterpreted. The end of the century is a good moment to strip away the mythology and try to rediscover Marx the man. There have been many thousands of books on Marxism, but almost all are written by academics and zealots for whom it is a near blaspemy to treat him as a figure of flesh and blood. In the past few years there have been excellent and successful biographies of many eminent Victorians and yet the most influential of them has remained untouched. In this book Francis Wheen, for the first time, presens Marx the man in all his brilliance and frailty -- as a poverty-stricken Prussian emigre who became a middle-class English gentleman; as an angry agitator who spent much of his adult life in scholarly silence in the British Museum Reading Room; as a gregarious and convivial host who fell out with almost all his friends; as a devoted family man who impregnated his housemaid; as a deeply earnest philosopher who loved drink, cigars and jokes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75177 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Karl Marx, whose influence on modern times has been compared to that of Jesus Christ, spent most of his lifetime in obscurity. Penniless, exiled in London, estranged from relations and on the run from most of the police forces of Europe, his ambitions as a revolutionary were frequently thwarted and his major writings on politics and economics remained unpublished (in some cases until after the Second World War). He has not lacked biographers, but even the most distinguished have been more interested in the evolution of his ideas than any other aspect of his life. Francis Wheen's fresh, lively and moving biography of Marx considers the whole man--brain, beard and the rest of his body. Unencumbered by ideological point-scoring, this is a very readable, humorous and sympathetic account. A Guardian columnist, Wheen has an ear for juicy gossip and an eye for original detail. Marx comes over as a hell-raising bohemian, an intellectual bully and a perceptive critic of capitalist chaos, but also a family man of Victorian conformity personally vetting his daughters' suitors, Victorian ailments (carbuncles above all) and Victorian weaknesses, notably alcohol, tobacco and, on occasion, his housekeeper. But there is great pathos, too, as Marx witnessed the deaths of four of his six children. For those readers who feel Marxism has given Marx a bad name, this is a rewarding and enlightening book. --Miles Taylor

Amazon.co.uk Review
Karl Marx, whose influence on modern times has been compared to that of Jesus Christ, spent most of his lifetime in obscurity. Penniless, exiled in London, estranged from relations and on the run from most of the police forces of Europe, his ambitions as a revolutionary were frequently thwarted and his major writings on politics and economics remained unpublished (in some cases until after the Second World War). He has not lacked biographers, but even the most distinguished have been more interested in the evolution of his ideas than any other aspect of his life. Francis Wheen's fresh, lively and moving biography of Marx considers the whole man--brain, beard and the rest of his body. Unencumbered by ideological point-scoring, this is a very readable, humorous and sympathetic account. A Guardian columnist, Wheen has an ear for juicy gossip and an eye for original detail. Marx comes over as a hell-raising bohemian, an intellectual bully and a perceptive critic of capitalist chaos, but also a family man of Victorian conformity (personally vetting his daughters' suitors), Victorian ailments (carbuncles above all) and Victorian weaknesses (notably alcohol, tobacco and, on occasion, his housekeeper). But there is great pathos, too, as Marx witnessed the deaths of four of his six children. For those readers who feel Marxism has given Marx a bad name, this is a rewarding and enlightening book. --Miles Taylor

Independent
A magnificently lively, compulsively readable book . . . Wheen's triumph' A.N.Wilson, Spectator 'Stunning ... witty, subtle and beautifully written ... Wheen's Karl is a warm, rumbustious, impulsive, irresponsible, bumbling giant with a big heart and a vast ego.'

Customer Reviews

Witty and entertaining, sympathetic yet honest.
I cannot agree with the one and two star ratings on this book. It is definitely a five-star.

I studied Marx at University for my Philosophy degree, 20 years ago.

I found the book excellent. No, not for its explanation of Marx's theories. Those who want that are looking in the wrong place. Look to McLellean for that. This is a biography. The readers that complain about its lack of substance of Marx's theories need to note that.

Even so, it would be a useful compliment to some of McLelleans work as it puts the writings in context. I wish it was around when I was studying Marx. I would recommend it to any new Marx scholar.

It is sympathetic to Marx, which is rare, yet it revealed information which those who are sympathetic may not wish to hear, e.g. Marx's seemingly contradictory middle-class values.

Overall, an excellent book and it has rekindled my interest in Marx and Engels.

(PS. My email address is real. I just happened to find it available!)

Little Dynamo!
I never knew Karl Marx was so much fun! Here Herr Marx leaps from the pages destroying enemies with invective, scorn and stinging wit; loving his wife and family as a kindly paterfamilias; continually, hideously and pitifully suffering from the most wretched physical health; and drinking, (!) excessively, with fellow left wing lights. Francis Wheen gives us a Marx we can love whilst setting to right many of the myths that have grown-up about Marx. He, in particular, pays attention to his dismissal by British Academia correting many false assumptions about him. Marx is more a prophet than a destructive Red Terror. He is more a wit, than a tedious economist. He is more creator than destroyer. A very fine and interesting read that moves along in an attractive, zestful prose style with an enlightening amount of intellectual stimulation. Brilliant!

Buy this book, you bluffers!
Everyone used to think Marx long-dead leftie beardie bore who wrote impenetrable tomes no one could be bothered to read. Now you don't have to! Author reveals KM actually genial if sometimes crusty old cove who liked a pint and had boils on bum, just like you & me! Not his fault if works later misinterpreted by assorted mass-murderers, eg J Stalin, M Tse Tung, P Pot, etc. So what if the Communist Manifesto didn't come true? Neither did New Labour's! Top Marx, Francis!