Leon Trotsky

by Paul Le Blanc

There are few more divisive names in history than the Soviet communist Leon Trotsky. To some, he was a betrayer, a hypocrite, and a totalitarian, and yet to many others he was a revolutionary of high esteem, who battled an outdated, oppressive dynasty and helped to usher in a new political era, and whose name became a political trotskyist. Whether colored by disdain or admiration, one thing is Trotsky was one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.
           
In Leon Trotsky , Paul Le Blanc delves deep into Trotsky’s life and relationships to reveal and make sense of his complex character and decisive actions. Interweaving dramatic historical events with examinations of Trotsky’s multi-faceted personality, he offers incisive views of the key facets of Trotsky’s his involvement with Soviet bureaucracy, the Spanish Civil War, and the rise of Hitler in the years before World War II. Illuminating Trotsky’s personal and political struggles and achievements, this balanced portrait will be invaluable to history students or anyone interested in the extraordinary lives that made up the twentieth century. 

Genres: Biography, History, Russia

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2015

About the author

Paul Le Blanc is an American historian at La Roche University in Pittsburgh as well as labor and socialist activist who has written or edited more than 30 books on topics such as Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg.

Reviews

[David Hayter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good quick weekend read. I am not sure it would be a good first or even second book on Trotsky as a fair amount of knowledge is presupposed. The story also begins in the 1920's and mainly deals with Trotsky's literary output in exile as well as the political degeneration of Stalinism. That said, someone with familiarity of the October Revolution and interest in the development of the international left in the interwar period would find a great synthetic study here. Le Blanc makes excellent use of memoirs of those in Trotsky's household as well as the secondary scholarship to craft a tale that is thorough yet brief and readable.

This is in the same series as Lars Lih's excellent short bio of Lenin. I think if one were to read something like Tariq Ali's Dilemmas of Lenin and/or China Mieville's October, they would be prepared to then read these two biographies from two of today's best Marxist historians, Lih & Le Blanc.

[sai · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cogent summary of his life. I didn't know much about the break between Stalin and Trotsky which led to his exile and eventual death but this book summarizes the backstory of their enmity quite well.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the format of Critical Lives, this dispenses with much of the detail you would find in full blown bio. Still, if you have some prior knowledge on the subject, this is a well-written appetizer.

[Steven Blom · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://isj.org.uk/half-socialist/
https://isj.org.uk/letter-john-roses-...

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable and informative not-quite-biography