Leon Trotsky: A Revolutionary's Life

Biography & Memoir, Religious, Political
Cover of the book Leon Trotsky: A Revolutionary's Life by Joshua Rubenstein, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joshua Rubenstein ISBN: 9780300178418
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: October 15, 2011
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Joshua Rubenstein
ISBN: 9780300178418
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: October 15, 2011
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English
Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in southern Ukraine, Trotsky was both a world-class intellectual and a man capable of the most narrow-minded ideological dogmatism. He was an effective military strategist and an adept diplomat, who staked the fate of the Bolshevik revolution on the meager foundation of a Europe-wide Communist upheaval. He was a master politician who played his cards badly in the momentous struggle for power against Stalin in the 1920s. And he was an assimilated, indifferent Jew who was among the first to foresee that Hitler’s triumph would mean disaster for his fellow European Jews, and that Stalin would attempt to forge an alliance with Hitler if Soviet overtures to the Western democracies failed.

Here, Trotsky emerges as a brilliant and brilliantly flawed man. Rubenstein offers us a Trotsky who is mentally acute and impatient with others, one of the finest students of contemporary politics who refused to engage in the nitty-gritty of party organization in the 1920s, when Stalin was maneuvering, inexorably, toward Trotsky’s own political oblivion.

As Joshua Rubenstein writes in his preface, “Leon Trotsky haunts our historical memory. A preeminent revolutionary figure and a masterful writer, Trotsky led an upheaval that helped to define the contours of twentieth-century politics.” In this lucid and judicious evocation of Trotsky’s life, Joshua Rubenstein gives us an interpretation for the twenty-first century.
Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in southern Ukraine, Trotsky was both a world-class intellectual and a man capable of the most narrow-minded ideological dogmatism. He was an effective military strategist and an adept diplomat, who staked the fate of the Bolshevik revolution on the meager foundation of a Europe-wide Communist upheaval. He was a master politician who played his cards badly in the momentous struggle for power against Stalin in the 1920s. And he was an assimilated, indifferent Jew who was among the first to foresee that Hitler’s triumph would mean disaster for his fellow European Jews, and that Stalin would attempt to forge an alliance with Hitler if Soviet overtures to the Western democracies failed.

Here, Trotsky emerges as a brilliant and brilliantly flawed man. Rubenstein offers us a Trotsky who is mentally acute and impatient with others, one of the finest students of contemporary politics who refused to engage in the nitty-gritty of party organization in the 1920s, when Stalin was maneuvering, inexorably, toward Trotsky’s own political oblivion.

As Joshua Rubenstein writes in his preface, “Leon Trotsky haunts our historical memory. A preeminent revolutionary figure and a masterful writer, Trotsky led an upheaval that helped to define the contours of twentieth-century politics.” In this lucid and judicious evocation of Trotsky’s life, Joshua Rubenstein gives us an interpretation for the twenty-first century.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book The Long, Long Life of Trees by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book A Natural History of Wine by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Dark Inheritance by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Groucho Marx by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Stalin's World by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book The Winchester by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book The Crisis of Islamic Civilization by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Mayhem by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book A German Generation: An Experiential History of the Twentieth Century by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book A New History of Early Christianity by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Managing the Environment, Managing Ourselves by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Wetware by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security by Joshua Rubenstein
Cover of the book Irrational Judgments by Joshua Rubenstein
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy