Although Trotsky had a limited understanding of crucial contemporary events such as Hitler's rise to power, he was an important thinker and politician, not least as a trenchant critic of Stalin's version of communism. This study provides a clear and accessible introduction to Trotsky's life and thought for anyoneinterested in twentieth-century Russian and World History.
Autorentext
Ian D. Thatcher lectures in Modern Russian History at the University of Leicester. His previous publications include Leon Trotsky and World War One(2000) and Regime and Society in Twentieth-Century Russia(1999).
Zusammenfassung
This new biography provides a full account of Leon Trotsky's political life, based upon a wealth of primary sources, including previously unpublished material.Ian D. Thatcher paints a new picture of Trotsky's standing in Russian and world history. Key myths about Trotsky's heroic work as a revolutionary, especially in Russia's first revolution of 1905 and the Russian Civil War, are thrown into question. Although Trotsky had a limited understanding of crucial contemporary events such as Hitler's rise to power, he was an important thinker and politician, not least as a trenchant critic of Stalin's version of communism.
Inhalt
INTRODUCTION; Chapter 1 THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY, 1879-1907; Chapter 2 THE FIGHT FOR UNITY, 1907-14; Chapter 3 WAR AND REVOLUTION, 1914-17; Chapter 4 DEFENDING THE REVOLUTION, 1917-21; Chapter 5 THE REVOLUTION IN DECLINE, 1921-4; Chapter 6 OPPOSITION AND DEFEAT, 1925-9; Chapter 7 AGAINST STALINISM AND FASCISM, 1929-33; Chapter 8 THE FINAL EXILE; CONCLUSION; NOTES; FURTHER READING; Index;