Marx: A Very Short Introduction New Ed Edition

by Peter Singer (Author)

34 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0192854056

ISBN-10: 0192854054

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Share <Embed>

Buy new

$9.01

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it tomorrow, Sept. 7? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

List Price: $11.95 Save: $2.94 (25%)

34 New from $4.50

FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

Price

New from

Used from

eTextbook

"Please retry"

$9.12

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$49.48

$9.50

Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.01

$4.50

$4.00

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$9.82

$9.81

$26.99

Digital, Amazon Upgrade

"Please retry"

$1.99

—

More Buying Choices

34 New from $4.50 37 Used from $7.98 2 Collectible from $7.95

73 used & new from $7.98

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

In Marx: A Very Short Introdution, Peter Singer identifies the central vision that unifies Marx's thought, enabling us to grasp Marx's views as a whole. He sees him as a philosopher primarily concerned with human freedom, rather than as an economist or a social scientist. In plain English, he explains alienation, historical materialism, the economic theory of Capital, and Marx's ideas of communism, and concludes with an assessment of Marx's legacy.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Marx: A Very Short Introduction

$9.01
FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $23.32

Buy the selected items together

This item:Marx: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer Paperback $9.01
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Hegel: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer Paperback $7.51
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Kant: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton Paperback $6.80
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Peter Singer

33

Paperback
$7.51
Roger Scruton

41

Paperback
$6.80
Gary Gutting

24

Paperback
$9.18
Stephen Eric Bronner

31

Paperback
$7.66
Michael Newman

19

Paperback
$9.28
Michael Tanner

33

Paperback
$7.81

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I always recommend that undergraduates should read Singer's book to get an overview. I find it a very useful introduction: succinct and sophisticated."--Professor Diana Coole, University of California, Irvine

"[An] excellent brief presentation of Marx and his teachings, written with clarity and conciseness; up-to-date in its sources, dispassionate in its approach to [Marx] and balanced in its assessment."--Peter McConville, University of San Francisco

"Clear, concise, insightful, and even-handed."--Susan Armstrong-Buck, Humboldt State University

About the Author

Peter Singer is a DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University.

Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; New Ed edition (January 18, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0192854054
ISBN-13: 978-0192854056
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.4 x 4.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 34 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #56 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Russian & Former Soviet Union
- #60 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Ideologies
- #64 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Communism & Socialism

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

5 star		47%
4 star		35%
3 star		12%
2 star		6%
1 star		0%

Write a customer review

See all verified purchase reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Business & Economics Books

4.0 out of 5 stars

European History

3.9 out of 5 stars

Historical Memoirs

3.9 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

The Challenge of Brevity

ByKeith A. ComessVINE VOICEon September 1, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It's difficult, perhaps even impossible, to summarize the prodigious output and major intellectual, socio-political and economics impact of Karl Marx in a single volume and to attempt such in a highly abbreviated work stretches credibility. Nonetheless, the topics selected for the Oxford series are of similar depth and the books are deliberately constrained to this format to make for digestible and understandable reading. Given these parameters, Peter Singer does a credible job, particularly as he attempts to factor in various biographical details, as well as summarizing Marx's work. Is this book "better" than potential competitors (such as Berlin's classic study)? Does it supplant more detailed expositions? Those are, of course, rhetorical questions but the likely answer to both is no. Perhaps there is too much emphasis on biography for such a short work. Perhaps the effort to provide context (by providing information on Hegel and other influences) distracts from the work of Marx, himself. Perhaps some deliberate elisions made by Singer (e.g., Marx on the "Jewish question") detract from the remainder of the book. Maybe the complexities inherent in a philosopher explaining another's work resulted in unneeded complexity. For whatever reason (or reasons), I found this book simultaneously more difficult and more shallow than anticipated. Given the option, I recommend Berlin's book as an introduction to to Marx and Marxism.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A superb introduction to Marx's thought

ByRobert MooreHALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon December 25, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a remarkably clear introduction to the thought of Karl Marx. I was a little dubious when I picked it up (I read 3 or 4 of the Very Short Introduction books each year), since most of my knowledge of Singer is through his work either on Animal Ethics, Utilitarianism, or his critique of George W. Bush. In fact, I became a vegetarian 25 years ago after reading Singer and Gandhi at the same time. Marx, though, is a horse of a different color. I was simply not confident that he would write as well on the founder of Marxism as well as he did on practical ethics. If anything, he turned out to write even more clearly on Marx than anything else I've read.

The problem with Marx is that he wrote so much, much of it in advanced draft form, that one can extract several different Marx's from his pages. It isn't that he is inconsistent that his thinking is constantly in flux as he considers one or another aspect of the issues surrounding capitalism. There truly is no final version of Marx's thought, but rather interim versions. The various books and manuscripts almost serve as commentaries on the other books and manuscripts. The trick is to extract the core of what Marx thought without unduly distorting his work as a whole and without reducing him to a caricature. Singer does a great job of highlighting major themes and trends in Marx's thought while not losing the sense of the difficult of determining with finality precisely what Marx wrote.

The importance of a book like this cannot be overstressed. Anyone who knows anything at all about Marx knows that he would have been appalled at the Communist revolutions of the twentieth century. As Singer rightly points out, Marx would unquestionably have been a victim of one of the purges. Whatever complicity Marx had with the excesses of Lenin, Stalin, and Mao is tenuous and debatable (though given that all three cited Marx as their inspiration means that Marx's responsibility for what followed can be legitimately discussed, even if he is exonerated). Not everything he wrote about Capitalism (a term he invented) has proven to be true (though a great deal that he wrote remains shockingly relevant). Those who in 1989 delightedly proclaimed that history had refuted Marx got it all wrong. The fact is that all of us today, even political and economic conservatives, have had our consciousness completely altered by Marx. Nearly all history is done today with unexamined assumptions that we took from Marx. No one would undertake a study of any historical topic without a consideration of the socio-economic factors involved. Sociology, philosophy, political science, economics, and virtually every subject one can consider has been deeply informed by Marxist ideas. Those proclaiming Marx the loser in 1989 got it all wrong: he had won way before then. He has shaped the modern mind as fully as Freud, Martin Luther, Newton, or Darwin. We think through Marxist categories, even when we oppose him.

This is just one reason why it is so important to understand what he was about. There are many other very good elementary intros to Marx's thought. Robert Heilbroner's book on Marx is a great one. Ernest Mandel has an excellent short introduction to Marx's economic theory. But I would put Singer's book up there with those. If you are looking for a clear first introduction to Marx, you can do far worse than this.

11 comment 19 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Helpful and Enjoyable

Byjohnb.on August 6, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A wonderfully succinct and to-the-point overview of the late Karl Marx. I'd known little of his thoughts and still more less of his life aside from the derogatory stigmas that chase him around thanks to the Marxist mutations found in the likes of Stalin and Lenin. Getting a more true to form portrait of the man and his grievances against capitalism in general alongside his concerns regarding human alienation in particular was both enjoyable and insightful. This was, in no small part, due to Singer's wise navigation through Marx's life, philosophical development, and large output of ideas. Unlike other books in this series ("A Very Short Introduction"), I was never bored or hoping that the already terse journey would come to an end.

Overall: helpful, thought provoking, and enjoyable.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Good book

ByJames Crueon July 21, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

overall this is a good book. It is not great, in my opinion, but it is good. It is very suitable for beginners and leads the reader along nicely.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Recycled but good

ByKerry Walterson August 6, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The first thing that ought to be noted is that Peter Singer's contribution to the Very Short Introduction series is really a recycling of a volume he wrote way back in 1980 for the old Past Master's series. So far as I can tell, the only revision in the book is a few changes in tense to bring this edition beyond the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was something of a shock--or at least a surprise--to realize that what I thought was a new book was in fact an old one.

Notwithstanding, Singer's Marx is a very good introduction. After a brief biographical sketch of Marx--which dispels the myth of his living and dying in penury, by the way--Singer examines his early flirtation with Hegelianism, his reflections on alienation and history, and his political economy. It's in his discussion of the last two topics that Singer excels. I've found no better text for introducing concepts such as "species being" and "labor theory of value" to my undergraduate students. Singer returns to Marx's understanding of human nature and it's relationship to alienating modes of production in his final chapter, "Assessment," and concludes that human nature probably isn't as pliable as Marx supposed. But it's also clear that Singer is sympathetic with Marx's critique of capitalism.

A good introduction for absolute newcomers to Marx--which, these days, is probably everyone under 30.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Good for someone who doesn't know anything about Marx

A bit more than "Marx for Dummies" but definitely a general introduction. Good for someone who doesn't know anything about Marx.Read more

Published 3 months ago by Charles K. Bobrinskoy

I have gone through years of college level work and ...

I have gone through years of college level work and, oddly enough, never had a chance to consider Marx's work. This short introduction was very helpful.

Published 1 year ago by Jim Hull

Praiseworthy

This is a highly readable introduction to Marx written by a preeminent philosopher who generally writes highly readable philosophical tracts.Read more

Published 1 year ago by HH

Peter Singer is one of the best academic writers alive today. Easy to read and full of knowledge.

I thoroughly enjoyed Peter Singers take on this topic. It is absolutely worth the time if you want an insightful look at what Marx was about and why he believed what he did.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Clifton Wayne Knox

Solid Summary

Succinct, well written, and the perfect blend of history and theory.

Published on June 1, 2015 by Austin

Shoddy Introduction

I generally avoid writing reviews on Amazon out of principle, but I came here with the intention of writing one for this book because of exactly what cathcart stated in his/her...Read more

Published on May 6, 2015 by Vanilla Snow

Very Thoughtful Intro

Wonderfully thoughtful and concise! Very useful even for one already familiar with the topic. Highly recommended in a time when it is so desperately needed.

Published on February 1, 2015 by M. lewis

short concise guide to Marx

A great guide through the basic ideas found in Marx's works. Very short, but very clear and precise.Read more

Published on December 16, 2014 by Kiyoshi Osawa

Makes Marx more coherent / Communism defined

Certainly shows how Marx is hard to fathom, and what's in there. Apparently Marx never definetely defined Communism. He was a philosopher, not an economic scientist.Read more

Published on December 1, 2014 by Just Looking

A good introduction.

A good introduction ... useful if you're putting together some notes for a talk about Marx with students who know nothing about him.

Published on November 29, 2014 by Tim

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Marx: A Very Short Introduction

Set up a giveaway

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Foucault: A Very Short Introduction Paperback

Gary Gutting

24

$9.18
Kant: A Very Short Introduction Paperback

Roger Scruton

41

$6.80
Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction Paperback

Stephen Eric Bronner

31

$7.66
Communism: A Very Short Introduction Paperback

Leslie Holmes

6

$9.94

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: karl marx, economics history, peter max, peter singer