ABSTRACT
Karl Mark was, first and foremost, the sociologist and economist of the capitalist regime.1 He was interested in historical materialism, and not only of one country but of many countries. It is generally believed that Marx and Engels’s observations on pre-capitalist epochs rest on far less thorough study than Marx’s description and analysis of capitalism. However, as Mr Hobsbawm points out, it is true that the literature available to them on pre-capitalist societies at that time was far scantier than it is at present. But this does not mean that their knowledge was insufficient for the elaboration of their theories of pre-capitalist societies.2
