Marxism: Philosophy and Economics

Anyone who's read Marx firsthand can attest to the challenges he presents in scholar. He can easily seem inconsistent and dogmatic, though he wasn't either; because of his writing style and penchant for epigrams (even at the sake of clarity and accuracy) he is easily one of the most misunderstood philosophers in Western History. The literature on Marx often bears little or no relation to Marxism as espoused by Marx, Lenin being the prime source of these trachts, as well as the prime example. It is by no means an exageration to claim that the secondary literature on Marx is worse than any in the entire Western Philosophical Canon. Dr. Sowell's acheivement is nothing less than a concise, accesible, and above all accurate explanation of the Marxist system. Criticisms that accuse Dr. Sowell of using complex language criticise him for using philosophical technical terms employed by Marx that are crucial to actually understanding Marx's philosophy. I personally found the reading the easiest of any book presenting a summation of Marxism. Any criticism of the book should be focused on Sowell's brief critique of Marxism, and then merely for the fact that it includes the real-life results of putative "Marxism" (however divorced those policies may be from Marx's actual philosophy). It also should be noted that Dr. Sowell's doctoral thesis was on Marx and his thought; this is a subject that the author (despite his now-conservative leanings) was deeply enmeshed in during his whole early intellectual career. All in all, this is the first book I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about Marx. Now if only Dr. Sowell could do the same for Hegel...

This is the most succinct presentation of the ideas of Marx I've ever read. Indeed, Sowell explains Marxism better than Marx ever did. It is very well written and a fair analysis by one of the countries best economists and writers. Sowell, a former Marxist himself, explains the essential Marxian concepts with a balance perspective. Those people who read this expecting to have Marx bashed or praised will be disappointed. Those wishing to understand Marxism and learn about Marx the man will be very happy with this book.

How ironic that Sowell, a famed conservative economist, would have written such a brilliant explanation of Marxism. Sowell clearly and intelligently lays out Marx's ideas while avoiding the 'disciples' of Marx who have misinterpreted him. While Sowell has a scathing critique of Marx's ideas at the end of the book, the bulk of it is written to help make sense of Marx. He is very fair to Marx, in fact I have never been so sympathetic to Marxism as I was after reading this work. Sowell is truly a great scholar.

In the clear prose and incisive thought that marks all of his writings, Thomas Sowell explores a subject thought to be nearly incomprehensible except to a very few in a manner that any intelligent layman can absorb. In it, he describes the man, his life, and his ideas in a manner to make Karl Marx and his ideas understandable to those who might be afraid to tackle the subject otherwise. This book should be the mandatory first read for any person attempting to understand the ideas that made this century.

In the genre of books attempting to put Karl Marx's ideas and personae into context, this is by far the best in the field, leaving runners' up in the field far behind. As most books in this genre are written in unapproachable prose and in the language of arcane terminology, Sowell's book is stunning in it's presentation, lucid in prose, and sublime in characterization. Especially interesting is Sowell's treatment of Marx the man. As the final part of the book, Sowell put's Marx's ideas in context with the man. This is in stark contrast to most of the book's in the field either treating Marx's personal life as that of an uncannonized saint(mostly), or as an unspeakable monster. In pure character of book, one can do no better.