• 'Das Kapital' is written by - Karl Marx. - It was one of the major works of the 19th century, in which he expounded his theory of the capitalist system, its dynamism, and its tendencies toward self-destruction. - He described his purpose as to lay bare “the economic law of motion of modern society.” - The first volume was published in Berlin in 1867; the second and third volumes, edited by his collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820–95), were published posthumously in 1885 and 1894, respectively.