Main currents of Marxism : the founders, the golden age, the breakdown

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Title:

Main currents of Marxism : the founders, the golden age, the breakdown

Author:

Kołakowski, Leszek.

ISBN:

9780393060546

Personal Author:

Kołakowski, Leszek.

Uniform Title:

Główne nurty marksizmu. English

Publication Information:

New York ; London: W.W. Norton & Company, c2005.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 1283 p. ; 25 cm.

General Note:

Originally published: Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1978.

Contents:

v. 1. The founders -- v. 2. The golden age -- v. 3. The breakdown.

Abstract:

"Drawing on powerful historical and philosophical insight, Main Currents of Marxism traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotinus through Hegel to Lukacs, Sartre, and Mao. Leszek Kolakowski 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." Long before the overwhelming majority of historians, journalists, and intellectuals around the world came to see the devastation wrought by autocratic, state-sponsored socialism, Kolakowski pointed to the shortcomings of a system doomed to failure."

"Recognized when it was first published for its profound historical insights and for its exposition of how the Communist hierarchy was quickly corroding from the inside, this forceful work has influenced several generations of scholars and historians. Despite decades of major political change, Main Currents of Marxism remains as accurate and incisive as ever. In a new preface and epilogue, Kolakowski reexamines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous years."--BOOK JACKET.

Personal Subject:

Marx, Karl, 1818-1883.

Engels, Friedrich, 1820-1895.

Subject Term:

Socialism -- Europe -- History.

Communism -- Europe -- History.

Added Author:

Falla, P. S. (Paul Stephen), 1913-2003.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0516/2005020823.html

Copies:

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Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025448859	335.409 K14M 2005	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly infuential 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.