Between his birth in 1818 and his death sixty-five years later, Karl Marx became one of Western civilization's most influential political philosophers. Two centuries on, he is still revered as prophet of modern world, yet he is also blamed for darkest atrocities of modern times. But no matter in what light he is cast, short, but broad-shouldered, bearded Marx remains-as human being-distorted on Procrustean bed of political isms, perceived through partially distorting lens of his chief disciple, Friedrich Engels, or understood as figure of twentieth-century totalitarian Marxist regimes. Returning Marx to Victorian confines of nineteenth century, Jonathan Sperber, one of United States' leading European historians, challenges many of our misconceptions of this political firebrand turned London emigre journalist. In this deeply humanizing portrait, Marx no longer is Olympian soothsayer, divining dialectical imperatives of human history, but scholar-activist whose revolutionary Weltanschauung was closer to Robespierre's than to those of twentieth-century Marxists. With unlimited access to MEGA (the Marx-Engels Gesamtausgabe, total edition of Marx's and Engels's writings), only recently available, Sperber juxtaposes private man, public agitator, and philosopher-economist. We first see Marx as young boy in city of Trier, influenced by his father, Heinrich, for whom the French Revolution and its aftermath offered an opportunity to escape narrowly circumscribed social and political position of Jews in society. For Heinrich's generation, this worldview meant no longer being member of so-called Jewish nation, but for his son, reverberations were infinitely greater-namely life inspired by doctrines of Enlightenment and an implacable belief in human equality. Contextualizing Marx's personal story-his rambunctious university his loving marriage to devoted Jenny von Westphalen (despite an illegitimate child with family maid), his children's tragic deaths, catastrophic financial problems-within larger historical stage, Sperber examines Marx's public actions and theoretical publications against backdrop of European continent roiling with political and social unrest. Guided by newly translated notes, drafts, and correspondence, he highlights Marx's often overlooked work as journalist; his political activities in Berlin, Paris, and London; and his crucial role in both creating and destroying International Working Men's Association. With Napoleon III, Bismarck, Adam Smith, and Charles Darwin, among others, as supporting players, Karl Marx becomes not just biography of man but vibrant portrait of an infinitely complex time. Already hailed by Publishers Weekly as a major work ...likely to be standard biography of Marx for many years, Karl Marx promises to become defining portrait of towering historical figure.