What if you could be a student in the morning, an accountant in the afternoon, and a physical therapist in the evening — then try three completely different trades the following day? This was Karl Marx’s vision for the world.

Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, believed the proletariat, or the working class, was enslaved by the bourgeoisie, or ruling class. Despite being a small percentage of the population, the bourgeoisie controlled the vast majority of the world’s wealth and all means of production. But what if all the workers of the world got together. Could they oust the ruling class?

Within a few decades of his death, Marx’s ideas swept across Europe and dramatically influenced the events of the 20th century. Millions perished at the hands of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and other communist leaders, who followed their interpretations of Marx’s philosophy to its unintended ends. But long before Stalin assumed power or the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, there was a boy born into a German middle-class family in 1818. You will learn about Marx’s marriage to a young baroness, his seven children, and his longstanding relationship with fellow philosopher Friedrich Engels, one of the few people who could decipher Marx’s messy handwriting.

When you are done reading this book, you may not exclaim, “Workers of the world, unite!” (as Marx famously did at the end of “The Communist Manifesto”), but you’ll understand more of what he meant by that — and more about the man behind the statement.