Trotsky

Revolutionary practitioner, theorist, factional chief, sparkling writer, ladies’ man (e.g., his affair with Frieda Kahlo), icon of the Revolution, anti-Jewish Jew, philosopher of everyday life, grand seigneur of his household, father, and hunted victim—Trotsky lived a brilliant life in extraordinary times. Robert Service draws on hitherto unexamined archives and his profound understanding of Russian history to present a portrait of the man and his legacy. He reveals that although Trotsky’s followers have depicted him as a pure revolutionary soul and a powerful intellect unjustly hounded into exile by Stalin and his henchmen, the reality is very different, as this masterful and compelling biography shows.