To understand how capitalism has come to engulf our world, we must understand how it developed out of classical civilization. Its historical roots lie in the emergence of hierarchies, power, monopolies, and the nation-state, argues Abdullah Öcalan.
Capitalism: The Age of Unmasked Gods and Naked Kings is the second book in a new five-volume work called Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization. Together, they present the synthesis of Öcalan's political thinking. This volume completes his journey through the history of civilizations, preparing the ground for the upcoming volume on The Sociology of Freedom.

Abdullah Ocalan actively led the Kurdish liberation struggle as the head of the PKK from its foundation in 1978 until his abduction on 15th February 1999. He is a leading strategist and the most important political representative of the Kurdish freedom movement. Under isolation conditions at Imrali Island Prison, Ocalan authored more than 10 books which revolutionised Kurdish politics, including The Political Thought of Abdullah Ocalan (Pluto, 2017), and Prison Writings, Volumes I and II (Pluto, 2007; 2011).