This is a good introduction to the thoughts and works of Marx. The 250 pages that make up this book take the reader through the ideas that Marx had, from the foundations of Marxism, the human predicament, capitalism, and to the conclusion - the revolutionary movement and the establishment of communism. Each chapter contains sections from the varied works of Marx that explain the ideas that are being introduced in that chapter. Interspersed with these are helpful analyses and summaries of what Marx is saying.
Though Marx was primarily an historian, he developed a particular way of interpreting history that cannot be separated from his political and philosophical opinions: firstly, that the history of mankind can be described almost completely in terms of class struggles, and secondly, that the world can only be properly interpreted with a materialist philosophy, and not an idealist philosophy. Though any history is written with at least an unconscious bias, the agenda here is clear and the writing verges on propaganda, with emotive and meaningless terms like "race of workers" frequently being used.
Plato, an idealist, advocates something akin to communism in his Republic, but it is very different from Marx's communism; the philosophy of the two could not be much further apart. One thing that Marx is against, and uses to justify his revolution and communism, is the "division of labour". He dislikes the idea that people take specific roles, that people just do the jobs that they are naturally best at. Instead, he seems to suggest that everyone should do a bit of everything. I see no sense in this, and yet it is at the core of his political philosophy. Plato's system is far better - that people take whatever job they can contribute the most to society by doing; it is better for individual satisfaction, and better for society and the economy. It is fulfilled, to a large degree, in capitalism, and is what most people choose to do. He also, in places, seems to say that everyone is equal, while in others he acknowledges that some people are better at certain things than others, or that the members of the working class would be better running the country than the bourgeoisie - there are so many contradictions.
Marx is full of bad sense such as this, but I would nevertheless recommend this book as a good introduction to his thought, and worth reading if you are interested in political theory and / or history. ( )