弁証法的、史的唯物論の祖であるフリードリヒ・エンゲルス（1820-95年）の思想は、多くの共産主義国が取り入れた歴史と科学の正統な哲学でした。またエンゲルスは初のマルクス主義の歴史家、人類学者、哲学者であり、初期のマルクス主義の解説者でした。マルクスの理論を発展させたエンゲルスは、マルクス主義の生みの親であるということもできます。多大な影響を及ぼしたエンゲルスの思想と活動の重要性を探る格好の入門書です。(cf. The Condition of the Working Class in England (Oxford World's Classics); The Communist Manifesto (Oxford World's Classics))
   

• The only short and accessible introduction to Engels
• A lucid study of Engels's thought and its implications for contemporary social science and politics
• Lively exploration of Engels's development of Maxist theory and practice

It is by no means absurd to say that Engels invented Marxism. His work did more than Marx to make converts of the most influential political movement of modern times. He was not only the father of dialectical and historical materialism, the official philosophies of history and science in many communist countries; he was also the first Marxist historian, anthropologist, philosopher, and commentator on early Marx.

In his later years Engels developed his materialist interpretation of history, his chief intellectual legacy, which has had revolutionary effects on the arts and social sciences. Terrell Carver traces its source and its effect on the development of Marxist theory and practice, assesses its utility, and discusses the difficulties which Marxists have encountered in defending it.