by Francis Wheen
Narrator: Simon Vance

In this brilliant book, “as gripping and as readable as a first-rate thriller,” Francis Wheen, author of the most successful biography of Karl Marx, tells the story of Das Kapital and Karl Marx’s twenty-year struggle to complete his unfinished masterpiece. (The Sunday Telegraph) Born in a two room flat in London’s Soho amid political squabbles and personal tragedy, the first volume of Das Kapital was published in 1867, to muted praise. But after Marx’s death, the book went on to influence thinkers, writers, and revolutionaries, from George Bernard Shaw to V. I. Lenin, changing the direction of twentieth century history. In this “exhilarating read,” Wheen shows that, far from being a dry economic treatise, Das Kapital is like a vast Gothic novel whose heroes are enslaved by the monster they created: capitalism. (The Times, London) Furthermore, Wheen argues, as long as capitalism endures, Das Kapital demands to be read and understood.