“Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character....I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one’s friends to Western civilization.”—Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe. “Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them....I find them hard to stop reading.”—Richard Bernstein, New York Times. “Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise.”—Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal. These brief and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in entertaining and accessible fashion. Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensive and interesting to almost everyone. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.
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Class warrior Marx was no pacifist and, except for the Communist Manifesto, no readable writer. Despite the disasters of Marxist proletarian dictatorships, Marx's ideas continue to attract those affronted by perceived economic injustice. Strathern briskly outlines Marx's inspiration in Hegelianism, which, from the garrets in which he lived most of his life, he inverted with the concept of dialectical materialism. His straight philosophy has remained more discussable than the economics of Das Kap ital for reasons that Strathern adduces; and as with all titles in this series, to illuminate the man behind the ideas, Strathern incorporates such angular details as Marx's pawning of his pants to buy cigars. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them...I find them hard to stop reading. (Bernstein, Richard New York Times )
Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise. (Jim Holt Wall Street Journal )
Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character...I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization. (Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )
A godsend in this era of the short attention span. (Daryl Royster Alexander New York Times )
Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise. (Jim Holt Wall Street Journal )
Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character...I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization. (Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )
A godsend in this era of the short attention span. (Daryl Royster Alexander New York Times )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, but lacking...,
By Charles Smith "Charles" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Marx in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
Overall this work is extremely well written and entertaining stylistically. The author gives a brief but thorough overview of the influences that shaped the young Karl Marx as well as some amusing, if somewhat irrelevant, biographical information on Marx and his companion Engels. The tidbits, for example, about Marx's hygenic habits and his pawning his only pair of pants to buy cigars are especially amusing.
Beyond a basic biographical understanding of Marx and an extremely simplified view of the world he lived and wrote in, this book is useless. The author is an obviously intelligent fellow with a gift for writing both clearly and humorously, so one if left wondering why he leaves glaring omissions and obvious logical fallacies in his work. While he avoids any outright perversions of truth, he is at least dishonest by omission with the reader. For example, he claims that Marxism has been a horrendous failure in almost every place it has been tried and points out that, ironically, Marx's ideas never took root where they were born, i.e. in western Europe. Every major state in western Europe, with the possible exception of Switzerland, has to some degree or other embraced Marx's basic tenets as laid out in Capital. Sweden, for example, is a modern state with a vibrant industrial economy that democratically elected Olaf Palmerson, an avowed Communist, as Prime Minister in the late 1960s. Germany has likewise produced one of the most powerful economies on Earth while also adhering to important demands first laid out in detail by Marx (it was the first state to develop a comprehensive social security system and has universal health care). England and France are large states that have had similar successes with socialist principles in practice, and various smaller states (e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands) have enjoyed even greater prosperity per capita than these. Granted each of these states still relies a great deal on capitalist spirit for their economic growth, but it is no criticism of Marx that the modern West has been built by capitalist enterprise, for he himself did not hesitate to marvel at and point out the achievements of bourgeois society. Yet the author conveniently forgets that his prosperous native England has, for the last half century, been ruled on and off by the Labor Party, a political entity which embraces socialism and consequently a great many Marxist theories on economics. Stathern also oversimplifies important points about Marx's philosophy, such as his theory of surplus value and the state withering away. He glosses over these points, giving little explanation on them and saving his writing talent and words for critiques of the ideas that stop short of full logical conclusions. A reader who is not already familiar with Marx may not pick out these critical curtailings and omissions yet the purpose of this work is to inform the lay reader who is unfamiliar with subject. A scholar, whether a student of philosophy, history, or economics, would probably rightly dismiss most of Strathern's oversimplified opinings outright. If a work could not rightly be accepted as appropriately fair and thorough by scholars, it is probably not a good introduction to a field for lay readers. In conclusion, this book provides a good outline of Marx and the philosophers that influenced him, but while Strathern is a talented writer he seems to also have his own biases which he lets color his work but does not openly disclose. A good historian of philosophy, but downright unscholarly in his portrayal of economic and political history in this case. You should probably do more investigating of Marx and his influence on world affairs rather than be lazy and allow this book to be your sole source of information on Marxism.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!,
By
This review is from: Marx in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
I wanted some quick information on Marx, oddly enough I found this book in the public library and thought I would give it a shot. It is a small book, but very informative and easy to read. It does leave thirsty for more. I too have, as the reviewer below, have tried to read all of Paul Strathern's ... in 90 minutes series.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strathern At His Best,
By
This review is from: Marx in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
I have made a point of reading each book in Paul Strathern's "--in 90 Minutes" series on philosphers and thinkers as they have been published. His slender volume on Karl Marx represents Strathern at his ironically informed best. Solid information presented with insight and humor. I cannot imagine a better starting point for an introduction to Marx and Marxism. Highly readable.
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