Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by 4harrisons
The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels
4.0
I'll start with the negative. This is a dated book, published by Engels in 1845 based on his time spent in England working for the family firm in Manchester in his early twenties. The language is from the nineteenth century, and there isn't much that would be considered analysis in the modern age. But that's not the strength of this book. Engels' outrage at what he witnessed, coupled with use of emerging statistics and the reports of the factory inspectors makes for powerful indictment of capitalism - an approach that was later to form such an important part of Capital - and not just the nineteenth century variety. You could replace some of the descriptions with "Amazon warehouse" and easily believe you a reading a book describing the 21st century.
The other point to make is that this is written after Engels had first met Marx, but before they really got to know each other. Despite that, and the slightly naive presentation, it is easy to see how Engels came to collaborate so closely with Marx. Underneath the outrage, it's easy to see the basis for what would turn into the analysis of economy and society that Engels would collaborate with Marx on over the next 40 years. Indeed much later there is a letter from Marx to Engels on re-reading this book many years later praising it for the raw sense of indignation, and almost regretting their joint subsequent move into the dull work of economic analysis.
Throughout it made me think of what Marx says in Capital: "If money, according to Augier, 'comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek,' capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt". For all its old fashioned language, it's worth a read even today.
The other point to make is that this is written after Engels had first met Marx, but before they really got to know each other. Despite that, and the slightly naive presentation, it is easy to see how Engels came to collaborate so closely with Marx. Underneath the outrage, it's easy to see the basis for what would turn into the analysis of economy and society that Engels would collaborate with Marx on over the next 40 years. Indeed much later there is a letter from Marx to Engels on re-reading this book many years later praising it for the raw sense of indignation, and almost regretting their joint subsequent move into the dull work of economic analysis.
Throughout it made me think of what Marx says in Capital: "If money, according to Augier, 'comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek,' capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt". For all its old fashioned language, it's worth a read even today.