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Stop What You’re Doing and Read…Books That Changed the World: The Origin of Species & The Communist Manifesto

Stop What You’re Doing and Read…Books That Changed the World: The Origin of Species & The Communist Manifesto

Summary

To mark the publication of Stop What You're Doing and Read This!, a collection of essays celebrating reading, Vintage Classics are releasing 12 limited edition themed ebook 'bundles', to tempt readers to discover and rediscover great books.

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES & THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
INTRODUCED BY DARWIN'S GREAT GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER RUTH PADEL
When the eminent naturalist Charles Darwin returned from South America on board the H.M.S Beagle in 1836, he brought with him the notes and evidence which would form the basis of his landmark theory of evolution of species by a process of natural selection. This theory, published as The Origin of Species in 1859, is the basis of modern biology and the concept of biodiversity. It also sparked a fierce scientific, religious and philosophical debate which still continues today.

THE COMMUNISTY MANIFESTO
INTRODUCED BY DAVID AARONOVITCH
The Communist Manifesto was first published in London, by two young men in their late twenties, in 1848. Its impact reverberated across the globe and throughout the next century, and it has come to be recognised as one of the most important political texts ever written. Maintaining that the history of all societies is a history of class struggle, the manifesto proclaims that communism is the only route to equality, and is a call to action aimed at the proletariat. It is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand our modern political landscape.

Reviews

  • Why does Darwin's theory matter now? Because it is the basis of modern biology and much medical research; it provides a tool with which to understand the natural world; it offers a deeper, if imperfect, understanding of our behaviour, about where we came from and where we might be going
    Observer

About the authors

Charles Darwin

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Karl Marx

KARL MARX was a German philosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist, and revolutionary, whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism. Born in Trier, Germany, Marx Studied law and philosophy at University. Due to his political writings, he was forced to live in exile in London, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings. His best-known titles are the 1848?pamphlet?The Communist Manifesto?and the three-volume?Das Kapital?(1867-1883). Marx's political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on subsequent intellectual, economic and political history
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Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels (1820-95) was the son of a Manchester factory owner. He wrote several groundbreaking essays on contemporary social and political conditions in Britain, including The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), in which he criticised the working conditions and treatment of the urban poor. After Karl Marx' death, Engels completed and published the last two volumes of Das Kapital (1884, 1894) from his friend's surviving papers.
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