Trotskiy Politicheskiy Portret [Translation of Russian title: Trotsky Political Portrait]

Moscow: Novosti, 1992. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. In Russian. 2 volumes. Volume 1, 412, [4] pages. Volume 2, 412, [4] pages. Index. Illustrations. First volume is signed by the author. Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov (22 March 1928 – 6 December 1995) was a Soviet/Russian historian and colonel general who was head of the Soviet military's psychological warfare department. After research in secret Soviet archives, he published biographies of Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin, among others. Despite being a committed Stalinist and Marxist–Leninist ideologue for most of his career, Volkogonov came to repudiate communism and the Soviet system before his death from cancer in 1995. Through his research in the restricted archives, Volkogonov discovered facts that contradicted the Soviet version of events, and the cult of personality that had been built up around Lenin and Stalin. Volkogonov published books that contributed to liberal Russian thought that emerged during Glasnost in the late 1980s and the post-Soviet era of the early 1990s. A reinterpretation of the life and ruthless career of Leon Trotsky based on Soviet and Western archives, interviews with members of the Trotsky family, and members of NKVD hit squad ordered by Stalin to locate and kill Trotsky. Derived from a Kirkus review of the English translation: Leon Trotsky was once portrayed as the pivotal figure of the revolution, as idealistic as Lenin but far less ruthless than Stalin. No one was better prepared to write it than Volkogonov, who rose to the post of deputy chief of political indoctrination in the Soviet army despite the fact that his father had been a victim of one of Stalin's purges. Volkogonov had unprecedented access to army, party, and NKVD archives, and even to Stalin's personal library. Volkogonov unflinchingly reveals his brutality and fanaticism. In the end, Trotsky became an isolated, harassed figure, more memorable for the fervor of his beliefs than for their value. An authoritative and definitive biography of a figure instrumental in shaping the 20th century. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Leon Trotsky, Russian Revolution, Communism, Lenin, Stalin, Bolshevik, Revolutionary, Exile, Assassination, Leadership, Proletariat

[Book #75740]

Price: $250.00

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