This expertly informed book sets the man and his ideas clearly against the historical sweep of his times. It follows Marx from his middle-class origins in Trier and student days in Bonn, through the years of travel across Europe in search of sanctuary, to London and then finally to the cemetery at Highgate. An epilogue brings together pen portraits of Marx from several contemporaries and Professor McLellan concludes with an invaluable chronological table and extensive critical biography.