"Probably the most readable, significant and interesting book that has thus far come from the prolific pen of the former leader of the Red Army.... Trotsky has an intimate knowledge of and a complete command of his subject.... [T]he canvas he fills is so broad and well-balanced as to be highly instructive even to those who do not limit their investigations of Soviet affairs to the reports of the correspondents.... In a series of brief but lucid chapters the author traces the remarkable evolution through which the Soviet State has passed since 1917.... Trotsky's narrative bring[s] to the reader an echo of the passionate discussion that has taken place behind the closed doors of the high Communist bodies." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ----The New York Times Book Review

During the first two months of 1917 Russia was still a Romanov monarchy. Eight months later the Bolsheviks stood at the helm. They were little known to anybody when the year began, and their leaders were still under indictment for state treason when they came to power. You will not find another such sharp turn in history especially if you remember that it involves a nation of 150 million people. It is clear that the events of 1917, whatever you think of them, deserve study.”
--Leon Trotsky, from History of the Russian Revolution
Regarded by many as among the most powerful works of history ever written, this book offers an unparalleled account of one of the most pivotal and hotly debated events in world history. This book reveals, from the perspective of one of its central actors, the Russian Revolution’s profoundly democratic, emancipatory character.
Originally published in three parts, Trotsky’s masterpiece is collected here in a single volume. It serves as the most vital and inspiring record of the Russian Revolution to date.
[T]he greatest history of an event that I know.”
--C. L. R. James
In Trotsky all passions were aroused, but his thought remained calm and his vision clear.... His involvement in the struggle, far from blurring his sight, sharpens it.... The History is his crowning work, both in scale and power and as the fullest expression of his ideas on revolution. As an account of a revolution, given by one of its chief actors, it stands unique in world literature.”
--Isaac Deutscher

“Roll over Derrida: Literature and Revolution is back in print. Nothing in the postmodern canon comes close to the intellectual grandeur of Trotsky’s vision of art and literature in an age of revolution, or his extraordinary meditations on the popular ownership of culture.”—Mike Davis “Re-reading Trotsky on literature 40 years later is a delight.”—Tariq Ali Leon Trotsky penned this engaging book to elucidate the complex way in which art informs— and can alter—our understanding of the world. Features new reader-friendly explanatory notes. Leon Trotsky was a leader of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and is the author of My Life . William Keach is a professor of English at Brown University. He is editor of Coleridge’s Complete Poems .

English, Russian (translation)