Leon Trotsky: References & Edit History
More Articles On This Topic
- treaties of Brest-Litovsk
- 20th-century international relationsRussia’s withdrawal from the war
- Russian Provisional GovernmentKornilov’s Rebellion
- New Economic Policy
- Russian Provisional GovernmentThe Bolshevik Revolution
- Great Purge
- Red Army
- Russian Civil WarCasualties and consequences of the war
- RussiaThe October (November) Revolution
- Soviet UnionLenin and the Bolsheviks
- Soviet UnionInternal, 1930–37
Additional Reading
Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution, 3 vol. (1932–33; originally published in Russian, 1931–33), treats his own role in the third person, and The Revolution Betrayed (1937) is his major polemic against Stalin. Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials, The Case of Leon Trotsky (1937, reprinted 1968), contains Trotsky’s testimony. Jan M. Meijer (ed.), The Trotsky Papers, 1917–1922 (1964–71), contains documents from the Trotsky Archive, including the Lenin-Trotsky correspondence.
Isaac Deutscher, The Prophet Armed: Trotsky, 1879–1921 (1954), The Prophet Unarmed: Trotsky, 1921–1929 (1959), and The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky, 1929–1940 (1963), constitute a classic biography of Trotsky from a sympathetic neo-Marxist point of view. Max Eastman, Leon Trotsky: The Portrait of a Youth (1925), is another sympathetic treatment, by a contemporary radical. Comparisons of Trotsky with fellow revolutionaries are found in Bertram D. Wolfe, Three Who Made a Revolution (1948), a triple biography of Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky to 1914; and E.V. Wolfenstein, The Revolutionary Personality: Lenin, Trotsky, Gandhi (1967), a psychoanalytic study. Robert D. Warth, Leon Trotsky (1977), is an introductory biography for the general reader. Biographies that depict Trotsky’s brilliance as well as his shortcomings are Ian D. Thatcher, Trotsky (2003), an extensively researched work; Robert Service, Trotsky: A Biography (2009), a thoughtful and readable treatment; and Bertrand M. Patenaude, Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary (2010), a dramatic portrait.
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Robert V. Daniels
-
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Other Contributors
- DAVID BARRETT
- Marisol Sanchez Garcia
Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors
Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modified title of Web site: Alpha History - Leon Trotsky. | Jun 04, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Liberty Equality, and Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution - Leon Trotsky, The Permanent Revolution. | Feb 13, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Glasgow - Enlighten Publications - Leon Trotsky and Soviet Historiography of the Russian Revolution (19181931) (PDF). | Dec 09, 2025 | ||
| Anniversary information added. | Nov 03, 2025 | ||
| Anniversary information added. | Aug 17, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: ABC listen - Nightlife - The Revolutionary and the Ice Axe: the murder of Leon Trotsky. | Jun 19, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: History Today - Leon Trotsky assassinated in Mexico. | Mar 27, 2025 | ||
| Questions and answers added. | Feb 12, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC - Witness History - The Assassination of Leon Trotsky. | Feb 03, 2025 | ||
| First paragraph modernization. | Apr 12, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Alpha History - Leon Trotsky. | Mar 04, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: The National WWII Museum - Trotsky's Struggle against Stalin. | Dec 25, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: British Library - Leon Trotsky. | Aug 16, 2023 | ||
| Links added. | Jun 08, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War - Leon Trotsky. | Mar 30, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Ohio State University - Trotsky: A Biography. | Jan 04, 2023 | ||
| Media added. | Jun 30, 2022 | ||
| Media added. | Jun 19, 2020 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Jan 05, 2018 | ||
| Changed title of the "Assessment" section to "Legacy." | Nov 15, 2017 | ||
| Media added. | Jun 30, 2016 | ||
| Added reference to Trotsky's biography of Lenin for the 13th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. | Jan 29, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: The History Learning Site - Biography of Leon Trotsky. | Jul 17, 2013 | ||
| Add new Web site: The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe - Leon Trotsky. | Jul 17, 2013 | ||
| Add new Web site: RT Russiapedia - Biography of Leon Trotsky. | Jul 17, 2013 | ||
| Clarified his place of death. |
|
Jul 24, 2012 | |
| Added Ian D. Thatcher's Trotsky (2003) to the bibliography. |
|
Jul 23, 2012 | |
| Add new Web site: BBC - Witness History - The Assassination of Leon Trotsky. | Jan 05, 2012 | ||
| Lowercased "communism" and "communist" unless the term was in the name of an organization or political party. | Jul 22, 2010 | ||
| Bibliography revised and updated. | Jul 22, 2010 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Aug 15, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - Biography of Leon Trotsky. |
|
Apr 26, 2007 | |
| Added new Web site: History Learning Site - Freedom Ride. | Feb 01, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: Spartacus Educational - Biography of Leon Trotsky. | Feb 01, 2007 | ||
| Media added. | Oct 26, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Marxists Internet Archive - Biography of Leon Trotsky. | Jul 17, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Oct 05, 2000 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |