The Communist Manifesto

By: Karl Marx

Narrated by: Greg Wagland

‘It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time, dosed the German working-class risings’.

The Communist Manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, a most engaging and accessible work, containing even the odd shaft of humour in this translation by Samuel Moore for the 1888 English edition. It is, of course, an essential introduction to the thoughts and theories of Karl Marx and his collaborator and editor Friedrich Engels and therefore to the development of communism.

This brief but iconoclastic work, essentially a pamphlet, covers the history of the bourgeoisie, aspects of ‘class struggle’ with descriptions and analyses of numerous workers’ parties and movements up to the 1840s. It predicts and elaborates upon the defeat of capitalism and communism’s ultimate global victory. Written over 150 years ago it pulsates with energy, insight and contemporary relevance, ending with the rallying cry, ‘Workers of the World Unite.’ Greg Wagland, a history graduate and enthusiast, brings a certain freshness and energy to his reading of this far from dusty tome. A word about the narrator: born in Oxford, England, Greg Wagland is a classically trained actor, who attended St. Andrews University and drama school. He has worked in television, radio and theatre appearing in productions with the likes of Richard E. Grant, Penelope Keith, Bill Pertwee, Matt Smith, Roger Allam, Liza Goddard, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray and Lindsay Duncan. He has recorded over 50 audiobooks, a number of those for the well-respected Talking Book Service of the RNIB. Now for Magpie Audio he is putting together an eclectic collection of classic fiction and non-fiction works and is always happy to receive suggestions for new titles.

Public Domain (P)2011 Magpie Audio

Critic reviews

"Our narrator has little to add, except his own words and in this capacity Greg Wagland has his work cut out. The trick with a reading of this kind is to make a clear distinction between which character has what voice, otherwise things could get complicated." ( The Guardian)

"Greg Wagland’s crescendo-free rendition allows this brilliantly structured novel to speak for itself." ( The Spectator)

Forcibly over throw anyone who owns land?

I'm not really sure how to review this. The message is terrible, claiming that no one should own land except the government and the only way to achieve this goal is to forcibly over throw everyone in the middle class or upper class who owns land and money. But the company did a good job narrating the book so I don't want to give them a bad review for their part.

lost chains, united, 5 out of 7, would lose again

lost chains, united, 5 out of 7, would lose again, fnord fnord fnord fnord fnord

Necessary to understand Communism

In order to learn about someone or something, you should go to the source. There’s no better source for understanding Communism than from the pen of Karl Marx himself.

While communism may sound good, it has produced nothing but evil in the world.

When you take away private property and the fruit of one’s labor via state confiscation, you destroy the human soul and his incentive to make the world a better place.

People deserve to be rewarded for bringing value to others, not shamed about it. Marx should be looked down upon as an unashamed loser who’s ideology was responsible for so much suffering, death, and destruction in the 20th century.

Marx didn’t create socialism, but he did build upon it. Socialism was coined in France but Communism was created in Germany where Marx was from.

Communism leads to enslavement by the government. Freedom loving people of the world unite against this evil!

Good information and good narration

While I do not agree with communism in general, there is some gold to be gleaned here. The book is obviously biased, but it was good. The narration was good as well. if you are interested in understanding the roots of communism this is it.

Educational

Recommend reading alongside the audio to better understand the full breadth of the subject matter.

ok

the book is a classic. yet it's read really boring, little change of voice, little soul in it. makes you rather sleepy.

I thought it was longer ...

and honestly for such a tried and failed economic system if that's what you call it , that it would dress it up all nice and fancy at least make it sound like it will work.

easy to comprehend and full of detail

listened to this book on a 4 hour road trip and was shocked when it was over before I knew it.

A great listen

Greg Wagland did a fantastic job of reading this book it was quite enjoyable .

informative book

cool book, a lot of good info in a short read, a lot of things spoken about apply today!