Marx's theory of the genesis of money: how, why and through what is a commodity money?

What is money?

A simple question that is surprisingly difficult to answer - or at least to answer well. Typical explanations of money offer a mere description (rather than an essential definition) of money by listing up its various functions, starting with the function of money as a means of paying for goods and services.

Karl Marx offers us a more fundamental understanding of money in his classic book Capital. In Chapter 1 and 2 (prior to explaining the functions of money in Chapter 3), Marx clarifies the essence of money as the material used by a commodity to express its own value, considers why money is necessary in the first place under capitalism, and then identifies the factor that propels a given commodity into the role of money.

Samezo- Kuruma takes a close look at each of those three key theoretical issues related to the concept of money in Marx's Theory of the Genesis of Value (with a focus on the theory of the value-form). Kuruma's book not only elucidates the essence of money, as understood by Marx, but also guides the reader through the "difficult beginning" of Capital.