This lucid introductory book explores the importance of Engels's thought and work. It is by no means absurd to say that Engles invented Marxism. His work did more than Marx's to make converts of the most influential political movement of modern times. He was not only the father of dialectical and historical materialism, the official philosophies of history and science in many communist countries; he was also the first Marxist historian, anthropologist, philosopher, and commentator on early Marx.