This text uses the methods and analytical rigour of "analytical Marxism" to provide a new dialectical interpretation of Marx"s social theory. A chapter on historical materialism uses a model of dialectic to give an interpretation of the key concepts of the theory, thereby showing how philosphical puzzles as to its meaning and consistency can be resolved. The book stresses the need to understand Marx"s theory properly when assisting it against the facts. The irony is noted for providing a sounder, more authentic interpretation of Marx than any other within the ambit of analytical marxism just when the collapse of Russian communism raises the question of whether Marx"s social theory may not be incurably misguided and utopian. The book claims, however, that the main intellectual as opposed to ideological challenge to marxism derives less from the collapse of communism than from the history of working class movements in developed capitalist countries.