In this unconventionial and sharply written text, Hollander introduces the work of Smith, Ricardo, and Mill, and, on specific Malthus and Marx. He leads the student through the nuances of the arguments, making clear how he agrees with or challenges recieved ideas about their writings. Attention is given to the precursors of the classics, to their immediate successors, and to the Sraffian system.

This book explores the commonly-perceived paradigmatic conflict between the 'Ricardo School' and the contemporary French economics of Jean-Baptiste Say. It will interest all serious historians of economic thought and will find a place on the bookshelves of many economists across the world

"This book rejects the commonly-encountered perception of Engels as perpetuator of a "tragic deception" of Marx, and the equally persistent body of opinion treating him as His Master's Voice. Engels's claim to recognition is reinforced by an exceptional contribution in the 1840s to the very foundations of the Marxian enterprise, a contribution entailing not only the "vision" but some of the building blocks in the working out of that vision. Subsequently, he proved himself to be a sophisticated interpreter of the doctrine of Historical Materialism and an important contributor in his own right"--