Friedrich Engels

This important new biography uses newly discovered material and takes a critical approach. Engels's formative years, before he met Marx, were crucial to the development of his thought. Carver is the first to analyse this early material in detail, revealing a surprising continuity in ambition and opinion over Engels's long career. His later role in popularising Marx's ideas is radically reassessed, because his most famous works reflect an intellectual outlook developed independently. Engels's personal and family relationships occupy centre-stage in this biography, and Engels the man emerges from Marx's shadow as a complex and engaging figure in his own right.