ABSTRACT
The road that led Keynes to fame follows, however, an odd path: while his personality conquered an indisputable leading role in economics, politics, and the public debate, his most important work sank into oblivion. To study the so-called Keynesian revolution, it is necessary to consider some of the historical events that marked its origin and developmental stage. Keynes's theories constitute a deliberate effort to depict the deep changes that, during the early twentieth century, radically modified the shape of the capitalist system. The General Theory offers, therefore, apart from a "model", a pungent critique of the orthodoxy, and a proposal for a new set of theoretical foundations; all three elements are closely linked together. With the publication of The General Theory, the economic orthodoxy was faced with a difficult problem. It is generally accepted that The General Theory was the starting point of a theoretical revolution within the marginalist school.
