The limits to capital Book

David Harvey's book is the best synthesis of Marx's contributions to political economy I've read, one that goes beyond "Capital" itself to incorporate insights from Marx's other works (such as the "Grundrisse" and "Theories of Surplus Value"). I turned to this work just after reading vol. 1 & 2 of "Capital" with the aid of Harvey's video lecture series; I'm so glad because I think it helped further consolidate my understanding of Marx's thought. While this is a tougher read than his "The Enigma of Capital" (Harvey's analysis of the economic crisis of 2007-2008), I think this book is definitely the best kind of "introductory overview" you could give to an intellectual person of Marxian thought, provided you have just a little background in reading philosophy, political theory and/or critical social theory.

But Harvey goes beyond that to provide a critique of some of the weaker aspects of Marx's thought (such as the crisis theory based upon the law of the falling rate of profit) and he even fleshes out some areas where Marx made some interesting beginning insights but left us without a completely coherent theory. In this vein, Harvey's development of the concept of finance capital is an important exploration of significance of "fictitious capital" and makes an important contribution to understanding current state of the global economy; considering this book was originally written in the early 80s, this section is astounding in its prescience in the light of recent history and the trauma brought to working people by the casino economy of finance capitalism.

But given Harvey's area of expertise as a geographer, it is not surprising that his most intriguing insights are into the effects of time and space in the flow of capital and uneven geographic development; in the process, he actually strengthens and extends Marxist thinking about the problems of colonialism and imperialism. In short, Harvey's work actually makes valuable contributions to Marxist and radical thought, making it must-reading for all leftists and progressive activists of any stripe.