M. Politizdat. 1969. 512 pages. The print run is 14,000. Price 2 rubles. 17 kopecks.

The authors of the book, employees of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU, set out to tell about the fate of the literary heritage of the founders of scientific communism in our country. The book examines the history of the publication of the works of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. Engels in pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR, as well as attempts to develop a history of studying the life and activities of the founders of scientific communism and their ideological heritage. The chronological framework of the study is very wide - from the second half of the XIX century to the present day. It is hardly necessary to talk about the complexity and responsibility of this project. To trace the fate of the literary heritage of Karl Marx and Fr. In the country where their ideas were translated into reality, this means showing the significance of these great ideas for the construction of socialism and communism.

The book under review is the result of the work of a large team of scientists who participated in the preparation of the second edition of the Works of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. Engels. The authors made extensive use of archival documents, Russian and foreign press, memoirs, and previously published research. It seems that the authors did the right thing by constructing the book chronologically-

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mu principle. For each section covering the history of the publication of the works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels in a certain period, followed by a corresponding historiographical section devoted to the study of their lives, activities and scientific works. Such a structure makes it possible to judge the development of research on the literary heritage of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. It enriches our understanding of the role and place of their writings in the revolutionary movement.

The introduction to the book, which is a small independent study, introduces the reader to how the literary heritage of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt was collected and published. Engels outside Russia until 1917. This clearly shows the crucial role of f. Engels, his titanic activity in this direction, especially in the last decade of his life. The introduction describes the real database that was created with the help of f. Engels, his friends and followers for further publication and study of the primary sources of Marxism.

The first chapter of the book is a history of the publication of the works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels in pre - revolutionary Russia-recreates an impressive picture of the widespread penetration of their ideas into the masses of working people. Thanks to the carefully, literally piecemeal data collected on the distribution of the works of Karl Marx and Fr. For the first time in tsarist Russia, the history of the introduction of progressive, revolutionary Russia to Marxist theory before 1917 is presented in such a complete form. Little-known, almost forgotten facts about the penetration of the early works of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. Engels ' visits to Nikolaevskaya Russia confirm the interest of the leading representatives of Russian social thought in the 1940s in the new theory that appeared in the West. In the 60s, the Russian public had the opportunity to read a number of works by Karl Marx and Franz Liszt in Russian translations. Engels. Step by step, we trace the activities of Russian revolutionaries - first the Narodniks, then the members of the Marxist group Emancipation of Labor, and finally the Bolsheviks, who brought Marxist literature to the Russian reader, using all the ways, both illegal and legal, organizing its publication abroad and in Russia itself.

The study especially highlights the contribution of V. I. Lenin, the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, and later the Bolshevik Party to the dissemination and propaganda of the works of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. Engels. The authors come to a reasonable conclusion: "Russia ranked second after Germany in the number of published works of Marxist classics and first in the number of translations into a foreign language" (p. 90).

After October, our party solved in a revolutionary way the problem of publishing and distributing the works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels. This is shown in the book on numerous facts: the creation already in 1918 of a commission for the preparation of translations of the works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels; the first attempt to publish the Collected Works in 28 volumes, made in connection with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx (V. I. Lenin joined the editorial board of this publication); decisions of the XII and XIII Congresses of the RCP (b) on ordering the publication of works by classics of Marxism-Leninism and preparing the first edition of the Collected Works of Karl Marx and F. Engels, organizations of scientific party journals and centers of Marxist science.

Of particular interest is the history of the Karl Marx Institute and the Philipp Freud Institute. Engels, created with the active assistance of V. I. Lenin. The reader cannot be left indifferent to the section that describes how in the first years of Soviet power, in the conditions of war, devastation and famine, the Communist Party under the leadership of V. I. Lenin, realizing the importance of concentrating the literary heritage of the founders of Marxism in our country for future generations, fulfilled its international duty to the world communist movement. Funds were found to purchase the missing documents of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels. At the time of the Institute's organization, he had only a few of their manuscripts. The pages devoted to the negotiations with representatives of the archive of the German Social Democracy regarding the transfer of photocopies of the bulk of unpublished manuscripts to us are read with fascinating interest. As a result of the colossal collection work, the vast majority of surviving manuscripts, numerous documents of the workers ' and socialist movement, the development of which was related to Karl Marx and Fr. Engels, a huge collection of lifetime and other editions of their works, as well as a unique collection of literature about them were concentrated at the Institute. The authors introduce the cheat-

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the most complex technique and method of deciphering manuscripts, a task that requires a truly rare qualification. It also reveals the huge work of the Institute on the publication of the works of Karl Marx and Philipp Freud. Engels, and most importantly - to prepare the first Collection of their works (in Russian and in the original languages). As the reader gets acquainted with the history of this first major publication, he feels that its publication was of great importance for the ideological life of not only our party and people, but for the entire international working-class movement.

A chapter dedicated specifically to the second edition of the Works of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt is read with great interest. Engels 1 . All those who refer to the works of the founders of Marxism are accustomed to using its volumes on a daily basis. But few people can imagine the full scope of the truly gigantic scientific work that ensured the publication of this monumental publication. The book allows you to get acquainted with the scrupulous historical and textual research carried out during the preparation of the collected works at the level of the highest scientific demands. The second edition served as the basis for the publication of separate works by Karl Marx and Fr. Engels, thematic collections of their selected works in the languages of the peoples of our country, as well as the peoples of other countries. In the course of preparing this publication, in 1962 a center for the promotion of Marxist-Leninist teaching among the broad masses was opened - the Karl Marx and Franz Liszt Museum. Engels.

The book attempts to summarize and critically review the published works devoted to the study of the biographies of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. It shows how the research front of the history and theory of Marxism in our country is deepening and expanding. Until now, in this branch of historical science, business has been limited to reviews (dozens of them) and the development of individual problems, most often in special specific historical studies. The book under review traces the success of studying the history and theory of Marxism in our country from pre-revolutionary times up to 1968. With such a broad review, the main regularities of the formation and development of the historiography of Marxism are revealed. The book shows the adoption of Leninist methodology in the study of the history and theory of Marxism, highlights the complex ideological struggle against its various perversions, erroneous concepts that arose in the process of studying the literary heritage of Karl Marx and Franz Liszt. Engels. The reader also finds in the book an analysis and general assessment of the most significant works of Soviet Marxist historians. In the first place here is such a fundamental work as the scientific biography of Karl Marx.

The progress achieved makes it possible to identify problems that Soviet historians still have to solve. The authors rightly refer to them the reconstruction of a complete picture of the international labor movement in the period of activity of Karl Marx and Fr. Research on the use of the experience of the working-class movement for the development of Marxist theory, preparation of generalizing works devoted to the formation and development of K. Marx and F. Engels. Engels ' study of dialectical and historical materialism; the study of the formation of scientific communism as an integral part of Marxism; finally, a comprehensive development of the problem of relations between the founders of Marxism and Russian revolutionaries, an analysis of the views of K. Marx and F. Schulz. Engels ' views on the prospects of the revolutionary movement in Russia (pp. 493-494). The authors ' conclusion about the need to strengthen the fight against ideological enemies and falsifiers of Marxism is very relevant. This task requires "not only the unmasking of falsifiers, but also a thorough elaboration of the most acute problems in the history of Marxism, positive research that convincingly refutes the fabrications of anti-Marxists and demonstrates the all-conquering power of Marxism-Leninism" (p.494).

Of course, the study of the multifaceted and capacious problems of the history and theory of Marxism cannot be exhausted in one edition. This is also stipulated by the authors of the book. At the same time, in our opinion, it would be necessary to define more precisely the criteria for selecting the subjects covered. The question arises, for example, why such works as V. Zasulich's book devoted to Karl Marx's brainchild, the First International, were not evaluated in the reviewed book.-

1 See also the book "The Great Heritage" prepared by the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU, Moscow, 1968.

2 V. I. Zasulich. Essay on the history of the International Workers ' Society. Part 1. Geneva. 1889.

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A comprehensive history of the International Workers ' Association, written by W. Eichhoff under the supervision of K. Marx3; an article by S. D. Skazkin, which examines the views of K. Marx and F. Schulz. 4. why did the authors, after paying attention to some problems of Marxist methodology (the nature of the peasant war in Germany in the sixteenth century; the specifics of pre-capitalist formations, etc.), ignore discussions on other issues (on absolutism in connection with the aforementioned article by S. D. Skazkin; on the Marxist understanding of early manufactory 5 and others)? etc.Of course, we are not talking about necessarily covering all the works. But the principle of material selection should be clear to the reader from the very beginning. I would also like to see a more strict separation of scientific and propaganda literature, especially those published in recent decades. Although the book correctly notes that both propaganda and popular science literature are increasingly based on primary sources (p. 414), there is still a difference between these genres. Among the works, especially articles, it would be necessary to carefully select studies that reflect the main line of scientific development. In conclusion, it is necessary to emphasize the encyclopedic nature of the publication. There is no doubt that it will be used by experienced researchers and students who are getting acquainted with the treasury of Marxism - Leninism for the first time.

3 W. Eichhoff. Die Internationale Arbeiterassociation. Jhre Grundung, Organisation, politisch-sociale Thatigkeit und Ausbreitung. B. 1868.

4 S. D. Skazkin. Marx and Engels on Western European absolutism. "Scientific Notes" of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, vol. III, issue 1, Moscow, 1941.

5 See "The Middle Ages". Issue 6. Moscow, 1955, pp. 359-412.

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