The daughters of Karl Marx : 1866-1898. family correspondence / commentary and notes by Olga Meier ; translated and adapted by Faith Evans ; introduction by Sheila Rowbotham.

Contains letters of Karl Marx daughters (Jenny Marx Longuet, Laura Marx Lafargue, and Eleanor Marx Aveling).

Translation of Les filles de Karl Marx.

A list of commonly used nick names (page xiii), a Marx family tree (pages xiv-xv) in addition to appendices of speeches and extracts from letters (pages 305-310) are included. A list of names with brief biographical information that the daughters mention in their letters is included (pages 313-328).

Includes a list of illustrations (page vii). The plates can be found between pages 120 and 121.

Just includes index.

Introduction / Sheila Rowbotham --

Part one. March 1866 - July 1869 : The family circle --

Part two. October 1869 - May 1871 : Death of an empire --

Part three. April 1872 - January 1883 : After the commune --

Part four. March 1883 - June 1889 : International socialism --

Part five. December 1890 - January 1895 : The legacy --

Part six. August 1895 - January 1898 : The world after Marx and Engels.

"This extraordinary correspondence-- published here for the first time in English in its entirety--offers a rare portrait of a remarkable family at a remarkable time in history. It contains over a hundred letters between Jenny, Laura, and Eleanor Marx, the three brilliant, energetic, witty daughters of Karl Marx. In their letters, politics and gossip overlap, so that the news of a child's first word or acquisition of a pet gives way to a translation query about Capital or an account of the latest squabbles within the Socialist Democratic Federation. The sisters compare notes on literature and theater. They write of their unassuming mother, who devoted her life to her family, yet remained a marginal figure in their lives. They speak of their overwhelming father with love and adoration. They talk of Frederick Engels, whom they called the "General", though he emerges from this correspondence more as a guardian angel, a second father who gave the whole family both spiritual and financial support. The two older daughters, Jenny and Laura, married French radical socialists and moved to France. The youngest Eleanor remained in England. All their lives they were plagued by ill-health, poverty and death. Yet they remained fiercely loyal to their political heritage. Laura sent home astute commentary on the Franco-Prussian War. Jenny wrote informed articles on the Irish situation for radical journals. Eleanor, the most active of them all, picked up where her father left off, and performed valuable work for the British, European and American socialist movements. Burning their energies fast, all three daughters died early. Two committed suicide. The letters reveal just how significantly these three exceptional women contributed to the international dissemination of Marx's works and thought." --from book jacket

Translated from French into English.