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Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary
Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary
Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary
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Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary

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Although Trotsky was dramatically assassinated just over eighty years ago, he remains a controversial figure. He has had many biographers over the decades - ranging from the overly-sympathetic, to the extremely-hostile. Robert Service, his most recent biographer, expressed the hope that his book would ‘finish off’ Trotsky - a job he believed the ice-axe had failed to do in 1940! This biography, as expected, deals with those aspects for which Trotsky is noted: his passionate and fiery oratory which captivated and inspired huge crowds; organising the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917; masterminding the creation of the Red Army and ensuring its victory during the Civil War; becoming the most determined opponent of Stalin’s creation of a monolithic party and state; being a Marxist theoretician of socialist revolution and combatting fascism; and, of course, being the originator of the very specific brand of revolutionary socialism that, as early as 1906, became known as Trotskyism. However, this biography also explores other aspects of Trotsky’s life which are not so well-known. In particular, from a very early age, his love of writing: the world of books and publishing became his first passion; it remained his first love and, if revolutionary politics had not taken over, his life would have been a very literary one. Immediately after the November Revolution, he hoped to return to his literary work, believing his main practical work as a revolutionary was over. His writings on art and literature, when compared to the stultifying strictures of the ‘Socialist Realism’ associated with Stalinism, are remarkably sympathetic and open; while he also wrote many perceptive articles as a war correspondent, covering both the Balkan Wars and the early stages of the First World War. Other aspects covered by this biography concern his family life, and his relationships with his children. Also explored is his love-life - while it is known he had a brief affair with the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, there are also suggestions he may have had other affairs. Whatever the truth of such allegations, he certainly maintained a passionate relationship with his long-term companion, Natalya Sedova; and readers should be aware that one proof of that, provided towards the end of this book, contains very explicit language.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 15, 2022
ISBN9781399010771
Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Trotsky – A different view of the man.Since his death, murder or assassination depends which side of the fence you sit on, there have been numerous biographies about Leon Trotsky. Some biographies are sympathetic, overly so in some, and like his most recent by Robert Service very critical. Trotsky really does divide opinion. Trotsky since his death has been described as many things such as a revolutionary practitioner, a political theorist, a factional chief, engaging writer, a ‘ladies’ man’ (his affair with Frieda Kahlo often used an example of this), an icon of the Revolution, the anti-Jewish Jew, a philosopher of everyday life, a father and hunted victim, Trotsky lived an amazing life in extraordinary times. His adherents have represented Trotsky as a pure revolutionary soul and a powerful intellect unjustly hounded into exile by Stalin and his henchmen. Allan Todd takes the view that Trotsky was a passionate person in everything that he did. Leon Trotsky was a person who rose from obscurity to be an active member of both 1905 and 1917 revolutions. He was the man who organised the Red Army from a shambles to an organised fighting force. One only has to look at the shambles he had to deal with when the political commissar Joseph Stalin made such a mess of the Russo-Polish war.Todd has tried to do something which other biographers have not done, capture is passions without the one-eyed reverence of a Marxist, or the hatred of his politics which some have assessed him by. Todd is not a hostage to fortune or trying to enhance the Trotsky myths which seem to grow by the year. He does highlight Trotsky’s love live and the literary career that sustained him in exile. These are often passed over in other biographies.This is an excellent book exploring Trotsky’s passions rather a political biography of which there are hundreds out there. This brings something new to the reader, which is always important in research.An excellent book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary, by Allan Todd, is a biography that emphasizes what is usually marginalized in other Trotsky biographies, namely, his passion as it relates to things other than the revolutionary cause.It is sometimes easy to think of our historical figures as one dimensional. In this case, as one dedicated to and passionate about revolution. In doing so we lose sight of the figure as a complete human being. Todd rounds out the picture most of us have in our mind, showing how his activism was because it was what he believed to be the right thing to do, not because he wanted to devote his life to the cause. At least not in such a public manner. His preference would have been to use his writing abilities to further the effort.While the love life, alleged and known, plays a significant role in this story, it is not sensationalized but rather used to illustrate how passion in all its forms ruled his life. Todd does not so much sensationalize the stories about Trotsky but weaves them into the whole of who he was. This is a man with flaws yet one who strives to improve himself and the world.I would recommend this to any reader who wants to know more about Trotsky the person and not just Trotsky the revolutionary. They are interlocked and knowing more helps us to better understand his political thought as well.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

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Trotsky, The Passionate Revolutionary - Allan Todd

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