Leon Trotsky Summary

Leon Trotsky

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betrayer, a hypocrite, and a totalitarian, and yet to many others he was a revolutionary of high esteem, who battled an outdated, oppressive dynasty and helped to usher in a new political era, and whose name became a political moniker: trotskyist. Whether colored by disdain or admiration, one thing is certain: 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 life: 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.

Leon Trotsky and the Art of Insurrection 1905-1917

First published in 1988. A functional definition of revolutionary military leadership is essential in understanding Leon Trotsky's role in the Russian Revolution, and it is this goal that Harold Walter Nelson explores in this title. The author states that the words, revolutionary and general carry a heavy connotative burden, and when the first is used to modify the second the new term does not lend itself to easy definition. This book pursues an analysis of this title from the context of the Russian military from 1905-1917.

Leon Trotsky's Theory of Revolution