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Karl Marx: The Story of His Life

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Karl Marx: The Story of His Life
Cover of the first edition
AuthorFranz Mehring
Original titleKarl Marx. Geschichte seines Lebens
TranslatorEdward Fitzgerald
LanguageGerman
SubjectKarl Marx
Published
  • 1918 (in German)
  • 1935 (Covici, Friede, Inc, in English)
Publication placeGermany
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages608 (English edition)
ISBN978-0415607261
Website[1]

Karl Marx: The Story of His Life (German: Karl Marx. Geschichte seines Lebens) is a 1918[1] book about the philosopher Karl Marx by the German historian Franz Mehring. Considered the classical biography of Marx,[2] the work has been translated into many languages, including Russian (1920), Dutch (1921),[3] Swedish (1921–1922), Danish (1922), Hungarian (1925), Japanese (1930), Spanish (1932), English (1935), Hebrew (1940–1941), Turkish (2012).[4]

Bibliographical information

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The first edition, in German was published in 1918:

First English editions:

  • Mehring, Franz (1935). Karl Marx. The story of his life. Translated by Fitzgerald, Edward. New York: Covici, Friede. OCLC 943172502.
  • Mehring, Franz (1936). Karl Marx. The story of his life. Translated by Fitzgerald, Edward. London: The Bodley Head. OCLC 86153600.

There were several later editions, e.g.

  • Mehring, Franz (1962). Karl Marx. The story of his life. Translated by Fitzgerald, Edward. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor paperback). OCLC 609847695. (with an introduction by Max Shachtman). In this edition the work has 575 pages (including the index).[6]
  • Mehring, Franz (2003). Karl Marx. The story of his life. Translated by Fitzgerald, Edward. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 978 0 415 31333 9.[7]

Contents

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The book has fifteen chapters, preceded by different introductions:

  1. 'Early years' (p. 1),[8] in which Marx's first years in Trier are described, his entrance at the University of Bonn, and his friendship and engagement with Jenny von Westphalen;
  2. 'A pupil of Hegel' (p. 9), in which Marx moves to Berlin (1836), to study jurisprudence, but mainly history and philosophy; contacts with Young Hegelians (Bruno Bauer); doctoral dissertation (Jena, 1841); journalist for the Rheinische Zeitung; influence of Ludwig Feuerbach; marriage;
  3. 'Exile in Paris' (p. 58), with the publication of the only issue of Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher (1844);
  4. 'Friedrich Engels,'
  5. 'Exile in Brussels,'
  6. 'Revolution and counterrevolution,'
  7. 'Exile in London,'
  8. 'Marx and Engels,'
  9. 'The Crimean War and the crisis,'
  10. 'Dynastic changes,'
  11. 'The early years of the International,'
  12. '"Das Kapital",'
  13. 'The International at its zenith,'
  14. 'The decline of the International,'
  15. 'The last decade.'

Reception

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In Books Abroad of spring 1936 a short review of the English translation is given. The book is said to be a "monumental and noble biography of the man most hated and admired today." Mehring is praised for not hesitating "to take his stand against Marx in certain controversies."[9]

In 1937 Harris wrote a review of the first English edition of Karl Marx. The Story of his Life in Science & Society. He refers to some earlier biographies of Marx in English language, like that of D. Riazanov (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. New York 1927), of Otto Rühle (Karl Marx, his Life and Work. New York 1929, translated by E. and C. Paul), and of Edward H. Harr (A Study in Fanaticism. London 1934), but states that "none can dispute first rank with Mehring's".[10] He remarks that the biography is at his best in the period prior to 1848. Despite the merits of the book, it fails to satisfy Harris' expectations. "Mehring, though a doughty fighter against the distortions of Marxism of the center and right wing of the German Social Democratic Party, even to the point of breaking with them to help found the Communist Party of Germany, was nevertheless unable to free himself entirely from the influence of the ideas against which he fought."[11]

The political scientist David McLellan writes that Karl Marx: The Story of His Life is the "classical biography of Marx", adding that it is now "slightly hagiographical" and out of date.[2] In 1953, the philosopher Louis Althusser wrote that it is the "most comprehensive and interesting historical study of Marx".[12]


References

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  1. ^ Fitzgerald 1935. p. x.
  2. ^ a b McLellan 1995. p. 444.
  3. ^ Dutch translation: Mehring, Franz (1921). Karl Marx : Geschiedenis van zijn leven. Translated by Romein, Jan. Rotterdam: W.L. & J. Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij. OCLC 781578231 (all editions). (reprinted 1971)
  4. ^ Turkish translation: Mehring, Franz (2010). Karl Marks : yaşam öyküsü. Translated by Feyyaz Şahin. Izmir: İlya Yayınevi. ISBN 9789944260589.
  5. ^ Mehring 1918: see also transcribed edition in mlwerke.de.
  6. ^ Mehring 1962: (very) limited preview in archive.org. See also "compressed pdf of Mehring 1962" (PDF). libcom.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  7. ^ Mehring 2003: limited preview in Google Books.
  8. ^ Page numbers after the 1962 edition.
  9. ^ A.K. (1936). "(review of) Franz Mehring. Karl Marx: The Story of his Life. etc". Books Abroad. 10 (2): 229.
  10. ^ Harris (1937), p. 256.
  11. ^ Harris (1937), p. 257.
  12. ^ "On Marxism, by Louis Althusser".

Sources

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See also

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