Harman begins by painting a grim picture of the world in which hunger, economic instability, violence and environmental destruction continue to rise with a corresponding decrease in overall human happiness. The driving force behind this downward spiral, he writes, is zombie capitalism, by which he means capitalism devoid of any human purpose other than a rapacious hunger for ever-increasing profits. The best way to understand this system, Harman argues, is to understand the views of its greatest critic, Karl Marx, and the first three chapters of his book are devoted to helping the reader do so. Chapters four and five discuss how capitalism has changed, and Marxist theory along with it, in the years since Marx's death, while the rest of the book examines the development of capitalism over the last 80 years--right up to the current global economic meltdown. That financial disaster and others like it are not, Harman warns, aberrations within the system, but an integral part of it, and will only grow worse as long as zombie capitalism is allowed to stagger onward, ever hungry and unrestrained. Written in clear, mostly jargon-free prose, the book is intended both for readers unfamiliar with Marxism and those who wish to learn more about its relevance to the world as it exists today. Harman is an editor at the journal International Socialism and the author of numerous other books on politics and history. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)