Many academics and critics of Marxism attempt to portray Karl Marx as nothing but an armchair theoretician. But, as Fred Weston explains, Marx spent his whole life devoted to putting his revolutionary ideas into practice. From his collaboration with the Communist League, who commissioned his writing of the Communist Manifesto; to the founding of the First International: Marx (and his lifelong peer, Friedrich Engels) were dedicated to the task of fighting for international socialism.

During this whole time, Marx and Engels analysed in depth the class struggles taking place around them - from the 1848 revolutions, to the Paris Commune - in order to learn the lessons of history and arm the working class with the ideas necessary to overthrow capitalism.