'Transform the world¿' said Marx. 'Change life¿' said Rimbaud. The Surrealists insisted that these two slogans could be joined. To that end, they tried to wed their poetic revolt to the French Communist Party and the political forces for change. This book examines the early relationship between Surrealism and Communism, from the Dada period up to the moment when leaders of the Surrealist group joined the French Communist Party. It focuses on the liaison between the Surrealists and the Marxist intellectuals in the Clarte group.