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'It's thrilling to accompany Miéville... as he wrestles - in critical good faith and incandescent commitment - with a manifesto that still calls on us to build a new world' Naomi Klein
'Read this and be dazzled by its contemporaneity' Mike Davis
'A rich, luminous reflection of and on a light that never quite goes out' Andreas Malm
'Reading with [Miéville] today sharpens our senses to contemporary internationalist movements from below' Ruth Wilson Gilmore
'[Written] with diligence and a ruthlessly critical eye worthy of Marx himself' Sarah Jaffe
In 1848, a strange political tract was published by two German émigrés. Marx and Engles's apocalyptic vision of an insatiable system, which penetrates every corner of the globe, reduces every relationship to that of profit, and bursts asunder the old forms of production and of politics, remains a picture of our world. And the vampiric energy of that system is once again highly contentious. The Manifesto shows no sign of fading into antiquarian obscurity, and remains a key touchstone for modern political debate.
China Miéville is not a writer hemmed in by conventions of disciplinary boundaries or genre, and this is a strikingly imaginative take on Marx and what his most haunting book has to say to us today. Like the Manifesto itself, this is a book haunted by ghosts, sorcery and creative destruction.
About the author
China Miéville has received numerous awards for his writing, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award (three times), the British Fantasy Award (twice), and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (four times). His novels include Perdido Street Station, King Rat, Un Lun Dun, The City & The City, Railsea and The Last Days of New Paris. He has also written a narrative history of the Bolshevik Revolution, October.
Summary
The great writer of 'weird fiction' gives us his brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document.
In 1848 a strange political tract was published by two emigres from Germany. Marx and Engels's apocalyptic vision of an insatiable system that penetrates every corner of the world, reduces every relationship to that of profit, and bursts asunder the old forms of production and of politics, is still a picture of a recognisable world, our world, and the vampiric energy of the system is once again highly contentious.
The Manifesto is a text that shows no sign of fading into antiquarian obscurity. Its ideas animate in different ways the work of writers like Yanis Varoufakis, Adam Tooze, Naomi Klein and the journalist Owen Jones.
China Mieville is not a writer who has been hemmed in by conventional notions of expertise or genre, and this is a strikingly imaginative take on Marx and what his most haunting book has to say to us today.
This is a book haunted by ghosts, sorcery and creative destruction.
Foreword
The great writer of 'weird fiction' gives us his brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document.
Additional text
PRAISE FOR CHINA MIEVILLE:
'You can't talk about Mieville without using the word "brilliant"' Guardian.
'One of our most important writers' Independent.
'Mieville is gifted with an incomparable visionary imagination' Financial Times.
'Mieville is regarded as one of the most interesting and freakishly gifted writers of his generation' Daily Telegraph.
Report
'The Manifesto is one of history's most profound prophecies. In Miéville's brilliant interpretation it is like a great comet whose periodic return blinds the sky with its light and urgency. Read this and be dazzled by its contemporaneity' Mike Davis
