What to read as an introduction to Marxism and revolutionary politics if you are beginning to wake up to the world and want to know more? Here are some suggestions (the links are to help you track the details of the books to get hold of them yourself):

Why Marx was Right by Terry Eagleton does not exactly bring us up to date – we need some more attention to feminist and ecological arguments at least to do that – but it does underline the relevance of Marx for us today. Terry Eagleton is, in some ways, an ‘old Marxist’, but he writes well and this is a passionate argument for Marxism now. Sharp and sometimes funny, the book shows how, far from being out of date, Marxism is absolutely essential as a theoretical framework and political practice to understand capitalism and overthrow it.

Marx: A Graphic Guide by Rius is a classic comic format introduction to Marxist theory, originally published as Marx for Beginners. A little dated in its mistaken references to the Soviet Union as ‘socialist’, Rius shows his allegiance to some of the more traditional monolithic forms of Marxism. But it does go through basic political-economic concepts ranging from the difference between ‘use value’ and ‘exchange value’ to the difference between individual idealist accounts of the world and collective materialist practice, and you get a historical grounding in what Marx was writing and why.

A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals by Neil Faulkner is a magisterial review of the scope of world history, doing what it says on the tin. The book is published by Counterfire, a small Marxist group that Neil Faulkner has since left, and here, as always, he is an independent Marxist writer. This book gives the broadest possible sweep of historical analysis, situating the development of Marxist theory under capitalism in the context of the emergence of our current brutal political-economic global system against a backdrop of slavery and feudalism.

Dangerous Liaisons: The Marriages and Divorces of Marxism and Feminism by Cinzia Arruzza is a detailed and almost exhaustive account of the variety of connections that have been made between the struggle to end capitalist exploitation and women’s struggles for equality and freedom from oppression. Cinzia Arruzza wrote the book as a supporter of the Fourth International, and the book was translated for sections of the Fourth International, including into English for Socialist Resistance as the British section. The book ranges from the Paris Commune in the nineteenth century to the role of women in the Russian Revolution in 1917 to the emergence of socialist feminist and then ‘third wave’ feminisms.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein is a marvellous account of the way that capitalism lurches from crisis to crisis bringing death and destruction in its wake, and harvesting the benefits in the form of increased profits. Naomi Klein is not a heavy-handed ‘Marxist’ writer, but someone who is able to connect revolutionary disgust at what capitalism is doing to the world with an acute analysis of how all kinds of disasters are not external to this political-economic system but intrinsic to it.

Green Capitalism: Why it can’t work by Daniel Tanuro puts the case for an ‘ecosocialist’ transformation of Marxism. It brings to the fore the best of Marx’s own insights into the way that capitalism as a system which is driven by the search for increased profits must, of necessity, exploit human labour and the planet, driving us to barbarism unless we act now. Daniel Tanuro is a member of the Fourth International, a Marxist who is able to show that the ecological crisis and climate change is not merely an optional extra that we must factor into our understanding of capitalism, but that environmental disaster is fuelled by this system.

Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan by Michael Knapp, Anja Flach and Ercan Ayboga is a clear account of why Rojava is so important to revolutionaries today. In incredibly difficult conditions, in the midst of attacks by the Syrian and Turkish regimes, something is being built here from a blend of Marxist and feminist politics. These writers are not explicitly writing as Marxists here, rather as journalist activists, and the translation from German is by Janet Biehl, partner of the anarchist Murray Bookchin. It shows that another world is possible, that if it can be begun here, it can surely be begun by all of us in solidarity with Rojava everywhere.

Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left by Ian Parker is also quite good, check it out.