Trotsky: A Biography

In the first full biography of Trotsky in English for over fifty years, Robert Service draws on hitherto unexamined archives from Moscow and the Hoover Institution and on his deep understanding of Russian history to draw a fresh portrait of the man, his times and his legacy. In this compelling biography, Service offers an honest summary of his difficult character and questions the image of Trotsky as a pure humanitarian soul and powerful intellect martyred by Stalin. Among other things the points to the ways in which Trotsky and Stalin were in agreement. The result is a study which is bound to become the authoritative biography.