Missing Marx’s Greatness

Karl Marx: His Life and Thought, by David McLellan (Harper, 498 pp., $12.50)

David McLellan’s biography is a notable addition to the field of Marx scholarship. The general reader, if he is persistent—and persistence is required, for this book is neither lively nor short —can benefit from the comprehensiveness of McLellan’s analysis, while the scholar can profit from the copious notes and bibliography. However, the greatest praise which can be made of McLellan’s Marx originates not from these things, but from his commendable desire to do Marx justice.

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Thomas Engeman

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Karl Marx: His Life and Thought, by David McLellan (Harper, 498 pp., $12.50)

David McLellan’s biography is a notable addition to the field of Marx scholarship. The general reader, if he is persistent—and persistence is required, for this book is neither lively nor short —can benefit from the comprehensiveness of McLellan’s analysis, while the scholar can profit from the copious notes and bibliography. However, the greatest praise which can be made of McLellan’s Marx originates not from these things, but from his commendable desire to do Marx justice.