Main Currents Of Marxism: The Founders, The Golden Age, The Breakdown

Leszek Kołakowski

W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 1978 - Philosophy - 1284 pages

The commanding study of Marxism, now in one masterful volume with a new preface and epilogue by the author.

From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly influential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this "prophetic work" presents, according to the Library of Congress, "the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the twentieth century." Kolakowski traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotonius through Lenin, Lukacs, Sartre, and Mao. He reveals Marxism to be "the greatest fantasy of our century...an idea that began in Promethean humanism and culminated in the monstrous tyranny of Stalinism." In a brilliant coda, he examines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous decades. Main Currents of Marxism remains the indispensable book in its field.

What people are saying

Review: Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders, the Golden Age, the Breakdown

User Review  - Ted - Goodreads

If I ever tackle this monumental work, it will be quite a task I'd be setting myself. However, I can foresee more likely using it as a reference. Kolalowski at first appears to be a bit too God ...

Review: Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders, the Golden Age, the Breakdown

User Review  - Eddy Allen - Goodreads

FROM PHILOSOPHER Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly influential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this "prophetic work" presents ...

About the author

Leszek Kolakowski was the first recipient of the million-dollar John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and he is the recipient of the 2007 Jerusalem Prize. He lives in Oxford, England.

About the Editor:
P.S. Falla is a well-known linguist and translator of Russian and other languages.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Main Currents Of Marxism: The Founders, The Golden Age, The Breakdown
• Author: Leszek Kołakowski
• Translated by: Paul Stephen Falla
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 1978
• ISBN: 0393060543, 9780393060546
• Length: 1284 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Movements / General; Philosophy / Political; Political Science / History & Theory; Political Science / Political Ideologies / Communism, Post-Communism & Socialism