Marx and History: From Primitive Society to the Communist Future

“Gandy has attempted a much-needed reinterpretation of Marx’s theory of history—one that, everything considered, deserves the reader’s attention.” —American Political Science Review   In this book Karl Marx’s observations on history, which are found scattered throughout his voluminous writings, are brought together and subjected to searching analysis—in refreshingly direct language, without jargon.   For the first time we have a thoughtful assessment of Marx’s views on all the epochs that cross his historical vision. D. Ross Gandy treats Marx’s ideas on primitive societies, on ancient Roman and Asiatic civilization, on the structure of feudalism, on strategies for overthrowing capitalism, and on the hypothetical communist future. Among the author’s departures from traditional readings of Marx are his interpretations of class struggle, his conception of social strata, and his cogent analysis of the “new Marxism.”   Since many aspects of Marxist historical theory have been neglected or distorted, Gandy’s remarkably clear commentary, based on extensive research—including an exhaustive study of the forty-volume Marx-Engels Werke—will doubtless stimulate debate among sociologists and other students of social change, political scientists, and historians.