The Prophet

Magisterial three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky - hero of 1917, nemesis of Stalin, and theorist of 'permanent revolution' - now available as a specially-priced set. Few political figures of the twentieth century have aroused as much controversy as the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Trotsky's [...]
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Magisterial three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky - hero of 1917, nemesis of Stalin, and theorist of 'permanent revolution' - now available as a specially-priced set. Few political figures of the twentieth century have aroused as much controversy as the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Trotsky's extraordinary life and extensive writings have left an indelible mark on revolutionary conscience. Yet there was a danger that his name would disappear from history. Originally published in 1954, Deutscher's masterful three-volume biography was the first major publication to counter the powerful Stalinist propaganda machine that had sought to expunge Trotsky from the annals of the Soviet Union. In these pages Trotsky emerges in his real stature, as the most heroic, and ultimately tragic, character of the Russian revolution. "Volume 1: The Prophet Armed" traces Trotsky's early years, the formation of his distinctive theory of permanent revolution, his long feud and reconciliation with Lenin and Bolshevism, and his role in the October insurrection of 1917. The volume ends in 1921, when Trotsky, then at the climax of his power, unwittingly sowed the seeds of his own defeat."Volume 2: The Prophet Unarmed" recounts the great struggle between Stalin and Trotsky that followed the end of the civil war in 1921 and the death of Lenin. It provides a new assessment of the causes of defeat which led to his expulsion from the party, his exile, and his 1929 banishment from Russia. "Volume 3: The Prophet Outcast" is a self-contained narrative of Trotsky's years in exile and of his murder in Mexico in 1940, told against the background of the ideological controversies raging throughout the period.