Principles of Communism (German: Grundsätze des Kommunismus) is a book written in 1847 by Friedrich Engels, the co-founder of Marxism. It is structured as a catechism,[1] containing 25 questions about communism, which Engels provides an answer to. Engels explains the basics of communism, and discusses society, history, and economic systems from a Marxist point of view, with the materialist conception of history in focus.