Humanity could easily satisfy everyone’s needs without wrecking our planet. Instead, we find ourselves facing a climate crisis that threatens the future of our species in a world of growing inequality and insecurity. How did we get here? What can we do to change things?

Karl Marx wrote Capital to explain how capital’s algorithmic need to expand itself, whatever the cost to people or planet, lies at the heart of the crises we face. More an ecology book than an economics book,Capital shows that capitalism is a stage in human development that we need to move beyond to survive and flourish.

Capital Condensed is a short but detailed guide to the 18 parts of the three volumes of Marx’s Capital. It takes you step-by-step through Marx’s investigation into capital from its origins in commodity production to the monster it is today. In a world where the need for fundamental change has never been more urgent, the results of this investigation have never been more relevant.

CONTENTS Introduction • 1 Commodities and money • 2 Capital and labour power • 3 Exploitation • 4 Productivity • 5 Subsumption • 6 Wages • 7 Accumulation • 8 Origins • 9 Circulation • 10 Turnover time • 11 Reproduction • 12 Profit • 13 Competition • 14 The falling rate of profit • 15 Commerce • 16 Interest and fictitious capital • 17 Rent • 18 Appearance and reality • Want to discuss Capital? • Categories • References