'I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.' Becky Sharp is sharp, calculating, and determined to succeed. Craving wealth and a position in society, she charms, hoodwinks, manipulates everyone she meets, rising in the world as she attaches herself to a succession of rich men. Becky's fortunes are contrasted with those of her best friend Amelia, who has none of Becky's wit and vitality but whose gentle-heartedness attracts the devotion...

Presents an annotated edition of the 1848 treatise on the economic, political, and social conditions of the working class, which served as the platform of the Communist League; and includes a historical and philosophical introduction, and a chronology of events surrounding the document's publication.