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.

《马克思的“资本论”传》

《资本论》不仅是划时代的经济学著作，也是一部未完成的文学杰作，它拥有多重结构，并可从多方面进行解读：哥特式小说，维多利亚时代的情节剧，希腊悲剧，或斯威夫特式的讽刺作品。在所有这些方面，《资本论》都自成一格。它并未真正结束，从某种意义上说明，马克思的著作保留着一个开放性的结尾，随时观照着今天。