Capital: A Critique of Political Economy

What it is

This is Capital (Das Kapital), Karl Marx's critical study of how capitalism works. Only the first volume appeared during his lifetime, in 1867; the later volumes were finished from his notes and published by Friedrich Engels after Marx's death.

Why it matters

In Capital, Marx argued that profit comes from exploiting workers' labour, and that this drives capitalism toward crisis and conflict. The book became one of the most influential works of social science, shaping economics, sociology and political movements for over a century, and shows how Marx spent decades building his critique on top of earlier economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo.

Look closer

• Why might Marx have focused his analysis on something as ordinary as a commodity?
• What does the fact that Engels completed two of the three volumes tell you about collaboration in intellectual work?
• What parts of Marx's argument might be hardest to test or prove?