August H. Nimtz, Jr. is Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Islam and Politics in East Africa: The Sufi Order in Tanzania.

"Marx and Engels: Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough, by August Nimtz, Jr., is an exciting and thorough account of the struggle for democracy in Europe, one that places Marx and Engels at its forefront." — International Socialist Review"Nimtz has set out to change the way we think about Marx and Engels's place in history by asking not just what they said and wrote, but how this related to what they actually did, and studying this practical side of their work in detail—something which has been surprisingly neglected. It is an original and timely book. Whether or not one accepts the claim that Marx and Engels played the leading role in the ultimately successful struggle for democracy, contrary to the opposite claim of so many 'marxologists,' Nimtz has made a very powerful case for it." — Colin Leys, coeditor of The Communist Manifesto Now; Socialist Register 1998"Marx and Engels's signal contribution to the 'democratic breakthrough' in the nineteenth century is massively documented and keenly argued in this book. I was interested in and impressed by the comparative analysis of Tocqueville and Marx-Engels—it is vigorously but lucidly written." — Herbert G. Reid, University of Kentucky

• Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One The Democratic Urge and Commencement of a Revolutionary PartnershipThe Quest for Democratic RuleThe Partnership BeginsChapter Two From Theory to Practice: Toward a Communist PartyPreparing for RevolutionThe Communist LeagueChapter Three The Revolutions of 1848–1849: Participating in the "Real Movement"Prelude to RevolutionThe Revolution BeginsThe Return to GermanyThe June RevolutionToward the People's AllianceChapter Four The End of the Revolutionary Upsurge and the Lessons of StruggleFrom Revolution to CounterrevolutionThe Lessons of RevolutionChapter Five Interpreting the 1848–1851 Events in France: Marx and Engels versus TocquevilleMarx and Engels versus Their ContemporariesMarx and Engels versus TocquevilleChapter Six Political Adjustments to the Long Lull in the Class StruggleThe Communist League: An "episode in the history of a party"Preparing for the Next UpsurgeChapter Seven A New Revolutionary Era and the Birth of the First InternationalPrecursors of Organized Political ActivityThe First International: "A Mighty Engine at Our Disposal"ConclusionsChapter Eight The First International: From Brussels to the Paris CommuneThe Breadth of the Marx Party ActivitiesThe Franco-Prussian War and the Paris CommuneConclusionsChapter Nine The First International: The Final Years and LegacyThe Fight for Programmatic IntegrityThe International's LegacyConclusionsChapter Ten Engels and Revolutionary ContinuityThe Strategy and Tactics of Party BuildingToward a New InternationalEngels's Contribution: An AssessmentConclusions Notes Bibliography Index