“The circulation of capital is not merely a series of acts of buying and selling. It is a process of reproduction.”

This second volume of Karl Marx’s revolutionary political and economic treatise continues the examination of the capitalist system, focusing primarily on the lifeblood of the capitalist economy—how capital moves through cycles of production, exchange, and reproduction and how the circulation of commodities affects the broader economy.

Capital Vol. 2—completed by Marx’s friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels and published after Marx’s death—is essential to the understanding of how Marx’s theories relate to economic cycles, the nature of capital, and the limitations of the capitalist system, complementing the insights of Volume I and providing a more comprehensive view of Marxist economics.

Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, and revolutionary socialist best known for co-authoring The Communist Manifesto and writing Das Kapital. Due to his political writings, he was forced to live in exile in London, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings. His ideas have had enormous influence on political and philosophical thought, laid the foundation for modern communism and have influenced political movements worldwide