Karl Marx is one of the most
influential social and political thinkers in modern times Here is a reading
list and a recommended reading order to some of the most important books by
Marx and on him. To learn more about Marx's philosophy before going into his
books read our summary of Marx's ideas. (links in the
following reading list take you to Amazon, doesn't cost you any extra but helps
us a bit, thanks!).
Books by Karl Marx
The best place to start reading Marx is the communist Manifesto (translation available online). This short and concise text is aimed at explaining much of what Marx wanted to say (here is a summary of the Communist Manifesto).
If you want to start with a good understanding of where Marx is coming from his Early Writings are a good place to start. Pay special attention to the wonderful and insightful The German Ideology.
Marx's most significant book
is The Capital. But before reading The capital bear
in mind that this is a very ardious and lengthy reading which isn't always very
rewarding. Still, you can't really know Marx without reading The Capital (there
is also an Abridged Edition).
Another option for the first Marx book on your shelf is one of these collections:
Recommended Books on Karl Marx
One of the classic books on Karl Marx and the top of any reading list is Isaiah Berlin's intellectual biography titled simply Karl Marx. This book will give you a good overview of Marx's theory as well as an in-depth understanding of it.
Another biographical option is Michael Heinrich's Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society: The Life of Marx and the Development of His Work . For a focus on Marx's personal life try Karl Marx: A Life From Beginning to End.
It should always be remembered that Marx is more than anything a philosopher of history, and for that end we have Cohen's Karl Marx's Theory of History and García-Quesada's Karl Marx, Historian of Social Times and Spaces dealing with Historical Materialism.
For the academics we have The Cambridge Companion to Marx and the pricy Oxford handbook of Karl Marx, both full of high-end research and insight,
For two great books by other
philosophers writing about Marx check out Louis Althusser's For Marx and Reading Marx by Slavoj Žižek.