Main Currents of Marxism – Its Rise, Growth and DissolutionVol.1

What reviewers have said about Main Currents of Marxism:

“The most comprehensive and incisive, the most properly passionate and yet also . . . the most accessible account of Marxism that we now have. It is a work of surpassing erudity and brilliance, combining a rare sensitive judgment, of a far finer quality than almost all of that with which it deals. It is, in short, a masterly achievement.”
Geoffrey Hawthorn,
Times Higher Education Supplement

“Leszek Kolakowski’s three volume history, Main Currents of Marxism, is . . . remarkably comprehensive; one could list a one thing that cannot be encompassed is the sheer usefulness of the book . . . a distinctive and engrossing piece of work.”
Alan Ryan,
Times Educational Supplement

“undoubtedly the most complete and intellectually satisfying survey of Marx’s and Marxist thought ever written in the English language.”

“Kolakowski’s magisterial style acknowledges both Marxist and non-Marxist criticism.”
Sidney Hook, American Scholar

In this first volume, Leszek Kolakowski examines the origins of Marxism, tracing the development of Marx’s thought from the Enlightenment to the neo-Platonists. He analyses the divergence from other left-wing and radical thought.