The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Penguin Classics) Paperback – June 29, 2010

This modern Penguin Books edition of Engels' classic work is a must read. My only regret is that I had not read it years ago. Engels begins with an encyclopedic knowledge of antiquity, quoting from such classics as Grote's 'History of Greece' (12 vols), Mommsen's 'History of Rome' (5 vols), and Lewis Morgan's 'Ancient Society, or Researches in the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery, through Barbarism to Civilization' (now available from Amazon). Into this "supersaturated solution" of received knowledge he dips his thematic string "the origin of the family" and draws it out encrusted with crystals of known but here-to-fore unrelated information. As a long-time university teacher of ancient history I was thoroughly familar with Engels' database but had never mined it for this particular theme. Most of modern anthropology has arisen long after Engels completed the fourth edition of this work in 1891, so he may be criticized for errors in detail and even method, but his overall message is still relevant and very important for civilization today! Born in Germany, Fredrich Engels was very well educated and seems to have been a reader of Latin and Greek, and fluent in German, French, and Russian as well as a skilled writer of English. A well-turned, if somewhat polemical example: "The downfall of Athens was not caused by democracy as the European lickspittle historians assert to flatter their princes, but by slavery, which banned the labour of free citizens." Throughout the book Engels is highly complimentary of the United States as the highest form of representative democracy in his time. But he does offer a criticism which is hard to gainsay, especially since 2008: "...the democratic republic no longer officially recognizes differences of property. Wealth here employs its power indirectly, but all the more surely. It does this in two ways: by plain corruption of officials, of which America is the classic example; and by an alliance between the government and the stock exchange, which is effected all the more easily the higher the state debt mounts ..."Prof. Peter C. Patton, Ph.D.

People love to spout platitudes about human nature to dismiss anti-capitalist ideas. This book addresses those voices by attempting to trace out broadly the development of human society in the abstract, in order to give readers a sense of historicity, allowing them to understand objectively the social formations which surround them. Overall it's an incredible read. While this penguin edition intro places an emphasis on the family, it was the chapters on the formation of the state that I found truly fascinating and extremely valuable.As many have pointed out, aspects of this book are dated. In particular from my perspective, David Graeber's theory of the development of metallic money (see Debt: The First 5000 Years) runs counter to some of Marx and Engels claims about it here. But this is a minor issue. Overall, I think that the model they provide in this book is still extremely valuable as a first approximation to how societies develop and form. There are more detailed explorations of the formation of patriarchy than those provided here, but nothing I'm aware of contradicts the broad claims made here. They only add, rather than invalidate.Also, if you're scared that the older prose will go over your head, don't be. Engels is, unlike Marx, extremely straightforward. He gets right to the point, is very clear, and doesn't waste words. If he were alive today, I have no doubt that he'd be a twitter celebrity.

Amazing book for understanding more about the history of monogamy and how our current concept of family has evolved due to changes in the economic system and the type of government.

Puts history in perspective and shows that women have been equal participants in society in times past and gives the scientific analysis of how and why women's position in society changed to one of a second class citizen becoming slaves to our male partners. If you want to know why, then read this book and others which challenge the status quo and which point to the ways to achieve full human liberation of not just women but the entire human race.

yes, used and a bit worn- all the better

Engles offers a review of "the Iroquois gens" is good for an interpretation of another's European version of the Iroquois. The problematic was the original author brought his own male biases to the study. Thus, he made a male dominated misspeak on what was observed. Engles did not know this. Without these observations, and Engles owb biases, he developed an analysis the Iroquois system that speaks well of organization.

A cogent review of Morgan with later learned refinements and expansions. Family structure explains a lot of things.

I have learned so much.

Much needed perspective, on how class division started.

A must read for all

This is a classic work and stood the test of time by one of the co-founders of scientific communism. Engels was at the summit of his intellectual power when he wrote this. It is the culmination of Marx and Engels' thesis on human social history. People who are new to Marxism may find it little difficult to follow, however, there are some good lectures on basics of marxism by David Harvey available on Youtube to start with. It is apt to read Tristram Hunt's introduction on the context of the work and the life of the author to put things in perspective. Don't skip it, you will only be baffled. People who hate communism or think it is not practically possible should remember that all the theories of Marx and Engels are based on rigorous research and conforms to sciences of this day. If this is wrong that only means all the sciences are wrong or people do not have scientific temper. Feminists will be surprised to see somebody voiced for them more than 100 years ago when there was no universal suffrage in the most developed nation England. Such is the power of scientific analysis of facts that though Marx and Engels were personally no different than ordinary men of those days with prejudice against women they couldn't forgo the evidence shown in various scientific results of their day. It is classic yet contemporary.

Solid

I guess this has not dated well, although it is interesting to see what was being thought about these subjects so long ago. The writing style is very Victorian, the last third is very heavy going. I am not sure to what extent modern anthropologists would agree with the conclusions. In sum, it's OK, I guess