An interesting and provocative biography of a man virtually unknown in Anglo-American history. Sherwood's work is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the crucial battle for control of French policy in the years leading up to the Second World War. You cannot understand France between the wars without understanding Mandel and there is no better place to begin understanding Mandel than Sherwood's text.

This is probably the world's most read primer in orthodox Marxist economic theory - and deservedly so. It flawlessly covers all 'the basics': the theory of value and surplus value (ch.1); capital and capitalism [historical bacground, and basic dynamics] (ch.2); and neo-capitalism [role of the state & war] (ch.3). It does all this in tight, non-technical style. For this reason it is THE starting point for the uninitiated. It is important to note, however, that it cannot be more than it's title suggests: an introduction. It does not deal with the criticisms of Marx's theory of value in any depth. Also, it reveals not only its age, and how times have changed by what is emphasises AND what it ignores. In the case of what it emphasises: much is made of the importance of the cold war as a necessary phenomenon. In the case of what it ignores: it understandably says nothing of post-Fordism, ecological concerns, or the emergence of non-socialist oppositional 'social movements' (such as feminism, environmentalism and multiculturalism). These criticisms are hardly relevant to a book such as this: its central goal is to outline the essential message in Marx's 'Das Kapital', and to show (in ch.3) how this message can be applied (with some inevitable modification) to explain (then) current politico-economic events.