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Ellen Meiksins Wood: Groundbreaking Marxist Historian and Political Thinker

From her classic historical work, The Origin of Capitalism, to her sharp criticism of the Post-Marxist milieu in The Retreat from Class, Ellen Meiksins Wood was a Marxist thinker with major contributions to history, sociology, and theory. 

Verso Books11 April 2025

Ellen Meiksins Wood: Groundbreaking Marxist Historian and Political Thinker

For Ellen Meiksins Wood's birthday (April 12, 1942), we're marking her books down 30%. Discount will be applied in-cart.

A Social History of Western Political Thought

A Social History of Western Political Thought

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

In this groundbreaking work, Ellen Meiksins Wood rewrites the history of political theory, from Plato to Rousseau. Treating canonical thinkers as passionately engaged human beings, Wood examines th...
The Origin of Capitalism

The Origin of Capitalism

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

In The Origin of Capitalism, a now-classic work of history, Ellen Meiksins Wood offers readers a clear and accessible introduction to the theories and debates concerning the birth of capitalism, im...
The Retreat from Class

The Retreat from Class

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

In this classic study, which won the Isaac Deutscher Memorial Prize, Ellen Wood provides a critical survey of influential trends in “post-Marxist” theory. Challenging their dissociation of politics...
Peasant-Citizen and Slave

Peasant-Citizen and Slave

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

The controversial thesis at the center of this study is that, despite the importance of slavery in Athenian society, the most distinctive characteristic of Athenian democracy was the unprecedented ...
The Pristine Culture of Capitalism

The Pristine Culture of Capitalism

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

In this lively and wide-ranging book, Ellen Meiksins Wood argues that what is supposed to have epitomized bourgeois modernity, especially the emergence of a “modern” state and political culture i...
Empire of Capital

Empire of Capital

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

Capitalism makes possible a new form of domination by purely economic means, argues Ellen Meiksins Wood. So, surely, even the most seasoned White House hawk would prefer to exercise global hegemony...
Democracy Against Capitalism

Democracy Against Capitalism

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

Historian and political thinker Ellen Meiksins Wood argues that theories of “postmodern” fragmentation, “difference”, and contingency can barely accommodate the idea of capitalism, let alone subjec...
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Citizens to Lords

Citizens to Lords

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

In this groundbreaking work, Ellen Meiksins Wood rewrites the history of political theory. She traces the development of the Western tradition from classical antiquity through to the Middle Ages in...
Liberty and Property

Liberty and Property

by Ellen Meiksins Wood

The formation of the modern state, the rise of capitalism, the Renaissance and Reformation, the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment have all been attributed to the “early modern” per...

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