Karl Marx Frederick Engels, Collected Works: Vol. 18, Marx and Engels 1857-1962

Volume 18 of the Collected Works contains the articles Marx and Engels wrote for The New American Cyclopaedia (July 1857 to November 1960) and Engels' articles for the military periodicals. The Volunteer Journal, for Lancashire and Chesire (August 1860 to March 1862) and the Darmstadt Allgemeine Militar-Zeitung (August 1860 to August 1862. It also includes some of Marx's and Engels' preparatory materials for a number of articles for The New American Cyclopaedia. Most of the works deal with military and military-historical problems. In his articles "Army", "Infantry", "Cavalry", "Artillery", "Fortification", "Navy", "The History of the Rifle" and others, Engels, the first writer on military affairs to apply Marxist categories, elaborates the theoretical principles of military science. From the standpoint of materialist dialects he analyzes the main aspects of the evolution of the armed forces as a whole and of the different fighting services, the development of the art of war, strategy and tactics, the organization of the armed forces, and the recruitment and training of troops. Shorter articles discuss specific problems of warfare, particular battles, and other military matters. The volume also contains a number of biographical essays on military and political leaders written by Marx, some of them in collaboration with Engels. They throw additional light on Marx as a historian, in particular, his attitude toward the Napoleonic era, the Latin American countries' sturggle for independence in the early 19th century, the 1848 revolution, etc.

Engels' article "Afghanistan", "Algeria" and "Burmah" condemn the expansionist policy of Britain and France and describe the national liberation struggle of the Asian and African peoples against the colonialist invaders. The volume comprises 107 works, seven of which are published in English for the first time.