A collection of letters is also essentially a biography here of a man recognized as one of the twentieth centurys leading thinkers. By translating and presenting for the first time many letters previously overlooked by other volumes, this collection greatly expands what the English-speaking world knows of him, both politically and personally. These extracts from his pre-prison correspondencewith his wife and her sister, international communist leaders, and fellow Italian revolutionariesshow his most important ideas at their beginnings, and give a well rounded picture of Gramscis political, intellectual, and emotional development.

Antonio Gramsci (18911937) was a founding member of the Italian Communist Party, and among the twentieth century's most influential theorists.