Wheen rescues Marx from the smoke-filled rooms of forgotten political debate. Whatever anyone thinks about Marxism, this is a Marx anybody can believe in.’ Scotsman
‘Karl Marx has not been served well by his biographers … If the time is now more favourable to Marx biography, we had no right to expect one as vivid and enjoyable as this. A triumph.’ Financial Times
‘We learn that Marx was a serious drinker and an inveterate sponger … Until I read this litany of seediness and venality, I never had much time for the man. Now I think of him as someone I’d like to have known.’ Evening Standard
‘… And why is Karl Marx even more popular than Harry Potter?’ Independent
‘I once tried to indicate the hopelessness of a character in one of my novels by having him contemplate writing a biography of Karl Marx. The point of this has now been thoroughly spoiled by Francis Wheen’s Karl Marx , which proved to be fascinating, funny, moving and – most startling of all – timely. His account of Das Kapital as a phantasmagoric Victorian novel is so compelling that I’ve started to read it.’ Sean French, Independent
‘I also very much enjoyed Francis Wheen’s boils-and-all biography of Karl Marx and I shall never again stagger out of the Groucho and walk up Dean Street without glancing up at the flat where he used to live.’ Philip Kerr, Independent
‘Stripping away both the piety and the demonology, Wheen’s book is fresh, funny, vivid and admirably short, revealing the contradictory man behind the forbidding bearded mask.’ John Campbell, Independent
‘Karl Marx making a comeback in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse? It is hard to imagine but a touch of ironic genius is necessary for the achievement. Francis Wheen displays all these talents in his Karl Marx .’ Michael Foot, Observer
‘Most original biography: Karl Marx by Francis Wheen.’ Frank McLynn, Independent
‘Francis Wheen’s biography Karl Marx has a passionate energy and commitment that made me cheer as I read it … Wheen’s study is great fun, a bravura performance – well done yourself, I want to tell him.’ Tom Paulin, Guardian
Other Works
Also by Francis Wheen
Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions
BOOK OF THE YEAR
According to:
John Banville
Lynn Barber
John Campbell
Nick Cohen
Terry Eagleton
Michael Foot
Sean French
Nick Hornby
Philip Kerr
Roger Lewis
Frank McLynn
Derwent May
Toby Mundy
Tom Paulin
Jeremy Paxman
Bem Pimlott
Kiernan Ryan
Richard Sennett
Barbara Trapido
A. N. Wilson
Jackie Wullschlager
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 1999 by
Fourth Estate Limited
6 Salem Road
London W 2 4 BU
www.4thestate.co.uk
Copyright © Francis Wheen 1999
6
The right of Francis Wheen to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN 9780007387595
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000,
‘Karl Marx has not been served well by his biographers … If the time is now more favourable to Marx biography, we had no right to expect one as vivid and enjoyable as this. A triumph.’ Financial Times
‘We learn that Marx was a serious drinker and an inveterate sponger … Until I read this litany of seediness and venality, I never had much time for the man. Now I think of him as someone I’d like to have known.’ Evening Standard
‘… And why is Karl Marx even more popular than Harry Potter?’ Independent
‘I once tried to indicate the hopelessness of a character in one of my novels by having him contemplate writing a biography of Karl Marx. The point of this has now been thoroughly spoiled by Francis Wheen’s Karl Marx , which proved to be fascinating, funny, moving and – most startling of all – timely. His account of Das Kapital as a phantasmagoric Victorian novel is so compelling that I’ve started to read it.’ Sean French, Independent
‘I also very much enjoyed Francis Wheen’s boils-and-all biography of Karl Marx and I shall never again stagger out of the Groucho and walk up Dean Street without glancing up at the flat where he used to live.’ Philip Kerr, Independent
‘Stripping away both the piety and the demonology, Wheen’s book is fresh, funny, vivid and admirably short, revealing the contradictory man behind the forbidding bearded mask.’ John Campbell, Independent
‘Karl Marx making a comeback in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse? It is hard to imagine but a touch of ironic genius is necessary for the achievement. Francis Wheen displays all these talents in his Karl Marx .’ Michael Foot, Observer
‘Most original biography: Karl Marx by Francis Wheen.’ Frank McLynn, Independent
‘Francis Wheen’s biography Karl Marx has a passionate energy and commitment that made me cheer as I read it … Wheen’s study is great fun, a bravura performance – well done yourself, I want to tell him.’ Tom Paulin, Guardian
Other Works
Also by Francis Wheen
Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions
BOOK OF THE YEAR
According to:
John Banville
Lynn Barber
John Campbell
Nick Cohen
Terry Eagleton
Michael Foot
Sean French
Nick Hornby
Philip Kerr
Roger Lewis
Frank McLynn
Derwent May
Toby Mundy
Tom Paulin
Jeremy Paxman
Bem Pimlott
Kiernan Ryan
Richard Sennett
Barbara Trapido
A. N. Wilson
Jackie Wullschlager
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 1999 by
Fourth Estate Limited
6 Salem Road
London W 2 4 BU
www.4thestate.co.uk
Copyright © Francis Wheen 1999
6
The right of Francis Wheen to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN 9780007387595
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000,
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