Babeuf has long been recognised as an important precursor of the revolutionary socialist tradition; at the height of the French revolution, his 'conspiracy of equals' aspired to overthrow the government, and establish a society based on common ownership of property. But beyond these basic facts, little is known about the life and politics of the first modern communist. This session will explore Babeuf's political activity, the climate of radicalism created by the French revolution, and the critique Marxism developed of Babeuf's elitist and conspiratorial strategy of social change.