Abstract

McLellan has written a very helpful study to enable us to recreate the intellectual climate of Marx's youth. McLellan's emphasis is to present the thought of the Young Hegelians from their own perspectives. In this respect he reverses the typical approach of seeing the Young Hegelians through the eyes of Marx or later Marxism. The result is a much more balanced and informative study of the Young Hegelians and their influence on Marx's early speculations. There is a general introduction in which McLellan sketches the general characteristics of the Young Hegelians and the development of their ideas. This is followed by chapters on Bruno Bauer, Ludwig Feuerbach, Max Stirner, and Moses Hess. The total effect of this fine study is to show us how much Marx borrowed from his contemporary intellectuals and how he used ideas suggested by others in his own distinctive and forceful way.--R. J. B.