The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State

1946 edition of Engel's 1884 classic work

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

Reprint. Hardback, bound in blue cloth with printed titling to spine and upper board. 19.5 × 12.5cm, 216pp.

First published in 1884, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State was a provocative and profoundly influential critique of the Victorian nuclear family. Engels argued that the traditional monogamous household was in fact a recent construct, closely bound up with capitalist societies. Under this patriarchal system, women were servants and, effectively, prostitutes. Only Communism would herald the dawn of communal living and a new sexual freedom and, in turn, the role of the state would become superfluous.

Condition

A good reading copy. The spine is tanned and faded, the whole book a little dulled but otherwise in strong readable condition.