Born in Manchester in 1893, Harold Laski was a leading figure in the left-wing of British socialism in the first half of the 20th century. An executive member of the Fabian Society and member of the Socialist League faction of the Labour Party, he was party chairman in 1945-6. As a professor at the London School of Economics he influenced a number of prominent politicians of the post-war years, including leaders of the independence movements of Asia and Africa, and Ralph Milliband, father of the current Labour Party leader, Ed Milliband. His political views were complex and embraced democratic socialism, revolutionary Marxism and Zionism. This highly readable 1922 essay on Karl Marx is a scholarly and critical account of Marx's life and work. - Summary by Phil Benson (adapted from Wikipedia)