An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx's Capital () is a 2004 book by German Marxist scholar Michael Heinrich aiming to introduce the three volumes of Karl Marx's magnum opus Capital. The book is structured as a shortened account of how Marx understood capitalist dynamics, and is written from the standpoint of the 'neue Marx-Lektüre' school of thought, criticizing both Marxist and bourgeois readings of Marx. The book was first published in Germany by Schmetterling Verlag. An English edition was published in 2012 by Monthly Review Press, becoming the first of Heinrich's works to be translated into English. Summary Heinrich's Introduction is organized around various themes present in Marx's work, and draws on the Grundrisse and Theories of Surplus Value in addition to its reading of Capital. Chapters 1 and 2 of the book introduce and place the book within the wider Marxist corpus. Chapters 3–5 discuss Capital Volume I, chapter 6 discusses Volume II, and chapters 7–10 discuss Volume III; chapters 11 and 12 discuss theories of the state and communism, respectively. The book rejects what it calls 'worldview Marxism' (), to which Heinrich ascribes "a crudely knitted materialism, a bourgeois belief in progress, and a few strongly simplified elements of Hegelian philosophy". Contrary to "worldview Marxism," the book dismisses the idea that Marx's Capital attempted to provide an alternative political economy, instead arguing that Marx was not "predominantly criticizing the conclusions of political economy, but rather the manner in which it poses questions". Like other 'neue Marx-Lektüre' adherents, Heinrich argues against a 'substantialist' understanding of Marx's theory of value (where value is considered the substance of an individual commodity). Instead, Heinrich argues that Marx's theory of value is a monetary theory of value and claims that Marx's theory of value does not ascribe a tangible value to an individual commodity before the act of exchange. This reading of Marx sidesteps the transformation problem by calling the problem a category error, where value and price are "different levels of description." Reception The Introduction has been praised for its objective treatment of Marx and for its comprehensive inclusion of Volumes II and III of Marx's Capital, in contrast to many other books on Marx's critique of political economy which primarily write about Volume I. Heinrich insists in the book that a reading of Capital must include Volumes II and III to not be subject to distortion. Author Doug