Includes bibliographical references and index.

"A major new translation of the explosive book that transformed our world. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was living in exile in England when he embarked on an ambitious, multivolume critique of the capitalist system of production. Though only the first volume saw publication in Marx's lifetime, it would become one of the most consequential books in history. This magnificent new edition of Capital is a translation of Marx for the twenty-first century. It is the first translation into English to be based on the last German edition revised by Marx himself, the only version that can be called authoritative, and it features extensive commentary and annotations by Paul North and Paul Reitter that draw on the latest scholarship and provide invaluable perspective on the book and its complicated legacy. At once precise and boldly readable, this translation captures the momentous scale and sweep of Marx's thought while recovering the elegance and humor of the original source. Despite the world historical significance of Karl Marx's Das Kapital, there have been only three English translations of the nineteenth-century work. One rendering from the 1930s has long been out of print. The remaining two include an 1887 translation by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling and a 1976 edition translated by Ben Fowkes. While of tremendous historical importance and impact, both have shortcomings as translations: the Moore-Aveling edition uses Victorian diction and quite literal translations, while the Fowkes edition blunts Marx's creative turns of phrase. In this wholly new, commissioned translation, Paul North and Paul Reitter draw on their deep knowledge of German intellectual history and literary culture to produce a fluid and imaginative reading edition of Capital: Volume I. While remaining faithful to the original text, Reitter uses colloquial English to replicate Marx's plainspoken style. Translator's and editors' notes by both North and Reitter provide valuable context for more obscure passages (such as nineteenth-century currency debates and technological references). An introductory preface by Wendy Brown and an epilogue that explains the substantive differences between the original English and French translations by William Clare Roberts enhance the scholarly apparatus"--