Karl Marx walk in London

I am a resident of West Bengal in India, a state which had been ruled until recently by the Communist Party of India(Marxist) for continuously 33 years, a record of sort by any Communist government in the world. The debates and discussions around the philosophy of Karl Marx has always been there in my state and our generation had grown up by experiencing the same. Karl Marx writings are also there in the Reading List of my programme MA Development and Rights, so there is an added interest about him.

I had this idea in my mind that if I would ever come to London  I must visit the places where Karl Marx worked and lived. I was so curious to see those historic places where a great intellectual worked and changed the course of history with his ideas.

Karl Marx Walk

So few days back, when a friend of mine told me about this KARL MARX THE WALKING TOUR , I immediately booked a ticket through groupon site for 3 pounds. So these people organize this Karl Marx walk on every Sunday  where they meet in front of the Criterion Theatre at Piccadilly Circus at 11 am and take you in and around Soho where he lived and worked.

Today, our guide for the Karl Marx walk was Mr. Mick Brooks, who call himself a Marxist for the last 40 years and someone who authored a book recently called Capitalist Crisis Theory and Practice. At 10.45 am, when I reached Piccadilly Circus I spotted him holding a placard with a Karl Marx picture on it in front of the Criterion Theatre. And our walk began exactly at 11 am from there.

BE AT ONE BAR in SOHO

So our first stop was BE AT ONE bar at Soho, which Mr. Brooks informed us as the birthplace of The Communist Manifesto. It is here where Communist League met and commissioned Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to write a manifesto. Mr. Brooks also told us that the famous slogan, “Working Men of All Countries, Unite!” as phrased by Karl Marx was first discussed in that Bar.

Little Sicily

Our next stop was an Italian restaurant called Little Sicily, the upper buildings of which was  the resident of many french workers who fled to London after the Paris Commune was violently crushed.

ST JOHN HOTEL

Next we were guided to a place called St. John Hotel, where Karl Marx had stayed with his wife for the first time in London. Mr. Brooks informed us that the place looks exactly the same as it was during the Marx time.

China Town Area

The next place, which is situated in the China Town area now is specifically addressed as 6, Macclesfield Street. This is where another great intellectual Friedrich Engels lived for most of his time in London and produced all his great writings.

Dean Street

Then we headed towards Dean Street, where Karl Marx lived for 5 years in penury and witnessed the death of three of his children in infancy. Friedrich Engels, who later on rented an apartment at 28, Dean Street had extended financial support to Karl Marx so that he could finish writing the Das Capital.

British Museum

Our last destination was British Museum, where Mr. Brooks wanted us to visit that Reading Room which was frequented not only by Karl Marx, but also by Gandhi, Jinnah, Oscar Wilde and many more great personalities in their time. The Reading Room has now been closed unfortunately. The British Library used to be there inside the British Museum earlier but just some 10 years back it had been shifted to a new building on Euston Road. To get the feeling of the old Reading Rooms, Mr. Brooks took us to a portion of Museum where still some book racks with very old books are there.

Reading Room

Overall my experience of this Karl Marx Walk is that something I can’t express in words. It was awe-inspiring , fascinating and profoundly interesting for a social science student like me. It was great to have Mr. Mick Brooks as our guide today who left no details while  explaining the historic importance about each of the places. I believe , everyone interested about Karl Marx should try this walking tour.

Mr. Mick Brooks