I feel kind of bad that I am as old as I am and had not read this before. I thought for the first few pages I was reading a contemporary's introduction to the work itself but in fact it was Marx speaking through the ages as clear as a bell. Unfortunately, the book begins to waver on the wobbly foundation of history and people I know not nor care about. That being said, I would consider this book an absolute must read as no other philosopher in the last 150 years has influenced so many, right or wrong.