Louis Althusser posited an 1845 "epistemological break" in the works of Karl Marx in which Marx moved from an ideological mode informed by the philosophy of Fuerbach to a scientific mode which resulted in his materialist conception of history. In his own account of Marx's intellectual development, Thomson (sociology and criminology, U. of La Verne in Southern California) essentially supports Althusser's view against his critics; focusing on controversies concerning the extent of Marx's early reliance on Fuerbach, the timing of the transition of Marx's views in 1844-45, Marx's activities in that crucial period, and the influence of Max Stirner on Marx's break with Fuerbach. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR