This is a handy little book from Yale's series of isms, outlining the history of materialism and then focusing on its development in the 19th century as a materialist conception of history in the hands of Marx (along with the political idea that changing the material surroundings will change people). This is exactly the kind of primer you need for historiography or comps.

I'm currently studying English and Media at university and we are always looking at materialism and commodity fetishism within today's society. Terry Eagleton's view on these issues was fascinating to read about and I also used some of his points in an essay that I had to write - this book was very helpful in teaching me more about theory,

Normally I enjoy Terry Eaglton's work, but this time round I did not, In fact, I had to DNF it.