* The impact of the Communist Manifesto was modest in 1848. The revolutionary turmoil of that year occurred quite independently of it. Yet this short book, with its resounding phraseology, was increasingly influential in the last three decades of the nineteenth century and in the years leading up to the First World War. During that time translations of it came thick and fast. By choosing the term ‘Communist’ for this, their most famous joint production, Marx and Engels helped to ensure that would become the name of the movement they founded. The book’s claim to be enunciating a scientific form of socialism, combined with its brevity and readability, guaranteed its impact would long outlive its principal author.