Alexander Sekatsky's new book, The Mission of the Proletariat, presents a concise version of the updated Marxism, which, as it turns out, works well today. The materialist understanding of history has not lost its attractiveness and heuristic power, if by it we mean the realized fullness of human existence as opposed to bare theory, no matter how sophisticated it may be. The author explains why historically rising forces sooner or later lose their positive, renewing attitude and become the ruling class, and also why revolution is the collective nirvana of the proletariat. Vivid and paradoxical, this book is addressed not only to specialists, but to all interested readers.