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How does a republic born in revolution fall into the hands of a president who seizes power?
In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx follows France from the revolution of 1848 to Bonaparte’s coup in 1851. Workers, peasants, rival parties and an elected president struggle over the republic. Marx asks how their conflicts open the way for a man he regards as ridiculous to take control.
This is history with an argument at its heart. Marx connects speeches, newspapers, class interests and political rivalries to show how power changes hands. He examines why peasants support Napoleon’s nephew, why the Assembly turns against its own voters, and why political actors reach for names and costumes borrowed from the past.
What you’ll discover
- Revolution and its fractures Follow the competing class interests that break the republic’s early promise of brotherhood.
- The pull of Napoleon Explore Marx’s account of why peasants place their hopes in a famous name.
- A parliament against itself Watch the Assembly weaken its position as it fights both president and voters.
- Politics in borrowed costumes See how memories of earlier struggles shape the language and actions of political rivals.
- The machinery behind power Look beyond the coup itself to Marx’s examination of the state machine behind it.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who enjoy sharp political writing, wonder how coups happen, or want to see a famous thinker read real events with wit and anger.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Old costumes can hide new interests
- The republic takes a class position
- The constitution strengthens its own rival
- Party labels conceal property interests
- Property owners weaken their own parliament
- Bonaparte builds loyalty outside parliament
- Fear makes strong government attractive
- Isolated peasants seek a powerful representative
- Follow interests rather than political slogans
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The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
by Karl Marx · 1852
A penniless adventurer in Napoleon's hat seizes France, and Marx asks how a whole nation lets him.
Challenging2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“stands for things which he is not responsible for and which he didn't cause because many of the things he wrote down were redrafted into the opposite”
In short
What happens when a nation overthrows a king and ends up under a man in a borrowed hat? In December 1851, Louis Bonaparte, nephew of the great Napoleon, sent troops into Paris overnight, arrested the leaders of parliament and ended the French republic.
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 30 min2 h fast, 3 h slow
- Length
- 36,300 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1852by Karl Marx
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
History repeats first as tragedy, then as farce
Marx opens with a famous remark. Great events and people appear twice, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. The uncle Napoleon returns as his nephew.
People never make history from a blank page. They work with conditions they find ready made, and the weight of the past presses on them. So in a crisis, when they seem to invent something new, they borrow the names, slogans and costumes of the dead. Luther dressed as the Apostle Paul. The first French revolutionaries dressed as Romans.
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A penniless adventurer in Napoleon's hat seizes France, and Marx asks how a whole nation lets him.
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Details
- First published
- 1852
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 2 h 55 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 118 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 118 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 196 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 196 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eighteenth-brumaire-of-louis-bonaparte.
Marx, K. (2026). The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eighteenth-brumaire-of-louis-bonaparte (Original work published 1852)
Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eighteenth-brumaire-of-louis-bonaparte.
@book{marx2026eighteenth,
author = {Marx, Karl},
title = {The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eighteenth-brumaire-of-louis-bonaparte},
note = {First published 1852}
}
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What is The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte about?
It tells how France went from the February revolution of 1848 to the coup of December 2, 1851, when Louis Bonaparte ended the republic. Marx explains each stage through the class interests behind the parties.
What does Eighteenth Brumaire mean in the title?
It names the day in 1799, in the French revolutionary calendar, when the first Napoleon seized power. Marx uses it to link that coup to his nephew's coup, which echoes the earlier one as farce.
What does Marx mean by tragedy and farce?
He says great events appear twice. The first Napoleon and the first revolution were serious tragedy, while the nephew's imitation, with its costumes and borrowed glory, is a comic and shabby repeat.
The author
Karl Marx
1818–1883 · German philosopher and political economist
Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany, in 1818 and died in London in 1883. He lived in Paris, Brussels, and London. He wrote The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels in 1848, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte in 1852, and A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy in 1859.
“Once as tragedy, and again as farce.”
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