"Genuinely open-minded and inquiring. . . .it intelligently summarizes and shrewdly questions four central topics of Marxist thought—the dialectical approach to philosophy, the materialist interpretation of history, the socio-analysis of capitalism and the commitment to socialism." —Raymond Williams, Cambridge University

In the lucid style and engaging manner that have become his trademark, Robert L. Heilbroner explains and explores the central elements of Marxist thought: the meaning of a "dialectical" philosophy, the usefulness and problems of a " materialist" interpretation" of history, the power of Marx's "socioanalytic" penetration of capitalism, and the hopes and disconcerting problems involved in a commitment to socialism. Scholarly without being academic, searching without assuming a prior knowledge of the subject, Dr. Heilbroner enables us to appreciate the greatness of Mark while avoiding an uncritical stance toward his work.