Frederick Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State is a foundational Marxist text on the roots of women's oppression and the role of the family in modern society. Linking the rise of the nuclear family as an economic unit to the rise of class society itself, Engels argues that with socialism and the abolition of private property, the family as we know it will also be abolished. While subsequent Marxist and feminist authors have enhanced our understanding of the role of the family since Marx and Engels time, this book provides a revolutionary starting point for understanding these questions.