On Trotskyism

by Kostas Mavrakis

Trotsky--brilliant publicist, enthusiastic speaker, organizer of the Red Army, eminent member of the Bolshevik Party during the first years of the Russian Revolution--has often been depicted as a romantic figure by biographers. Kostas Mavrakis does not see him in this light. Mavrakis submits Trotsky, his thought and work to a severe but fair critical examination. Among the issues reassessed by this controversial scholar are Trotsky's incapacity for concrete analysis, the 'economism' he shares with Stalin, his concepts of 'permanent revoluation' as compared with those of Lenin and Mao, his views and those of Stalin, on the Chinese Revolution, the fundamental traits of Trotskyism and of the different trotskyist organizations.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Comrade Zupa Ogórkowa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Details historical revisionism that trotskyists partake in to make Stalin look bad and Trotsky look good but I feel like for the vast majority of people today these are points not usually talked about or maybe have lost their significance
Need a pretty solid understanding of early Soviet history and the key players to fully appreciate the points in this book.
I liked the conclusion and the chapter on Greece, that was very informative.
If this book felt dry and pedantic I lay the fault more on trotskyists for being so wrong and creating mountains out of molehills so the book in refuting Trotskyist errors of analysis are inevitably going to be “pulled down to their level.” If you’re exhausted by this book it’s because Trotskyists are exhausting.

[A L]

I didn't expect it to brilliantly and usefully clarify the core of Maoism being rooted in the GPCR but there you have it.