Product Description

From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly infuential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this 'prophetic work' presents, according to the Library of Congress, 'the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the twentieth century'. Kolakowski traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotonius through Lenin, Lukacs, Sartre and Mao. He reveals Marxism to be 'the greatest fantasy of our century ...an idea that began in Promethean humanism and culminated in the monstrous tyranny of Stalinism'. In a brilliant coda, he examines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous decades. Main Currents of Marxism remains the indispensable book in its field.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #360545 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1284 pages

About the Author
The Polish-born Leszek Kolakowski was the first recipient of the million-dollar John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences. He lives in Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Kolakowski`s "Magum opus' on Marxism
"Main Currents" is comprised of three parts - "The Founders", 'The Golden Age" and "The Breakdown". The first part looks at both the antecedents ie Kant, Hegel, as well as the main protagonists - Marx and Engels. In some places, it is heavy going but if the reader can stick with it, the insights into philosophy underpinning Marxism are worthwhile. "The Golden Age" deals with the various contributions of Kautsky, Bernstein and other relatively less well known writers but at the heart of this part is the Russian contributors ie Plekhanov and Lenin, and here the examination turns from the analysis of the ideas to a straight examination of the Bolshevik and then Stalinist ideas in practise - perhaps not that original but still worth reading for the author`s insights - he was a Professor of Philosophy at Warsaw University into the 1960s. The final part covers the ideas of latterday contributors such as Marcuse and the Frankfurt School. The book pretty well finishes in the late 1960s in due part to the author`s belief that there was little more to say - the ideas of Marx et al had run their course and been found 'wanting in the balance' in their application in his country, then part of the Soviet bloc, and elsewhere. This is a book of real scholarship in its breadth and depth of the coverage of the Marxist ideal and is unlikely to be bettered.

The final word on Marxism.
The best review of the history of Marxism so far. It will be difficult to surpass it, and a waste of time to try.