Leon Trotsky has aroused strong passions, and historians love and hate him in equal measure. This new biography provides a full account of his political life, based upon a wealth of primary sources, including previously unpublished material.
Ian D. Thatcher paints a new picture of Trotsky's standing in Russian and world history. Key myths about Trotsky's heroic work as a revolutionary, especially in Russia's first revolution of 1905 and the Russian Civil War, are thrown into question. Although Trotsky had a limited understanding of crucial contemporary events such as Hitler's rise to power, he was an important thinker and politician, not least as a trenchant critic of Stalin's version of communism.

Leon Trotsky has aroused strong passions, and historians love and hate him in equal measure. This new biography provides a full account of his political life, based upon a wealth of primary sources, including previously unpublished material.
Ian D. Thatcher paints a new picture of Trotsky's standing in Russian and world history. Key myths about Trotsky's heroic work as a revolutionary, especially in Russia's first revolution of 1905 and the Russian Civil War, are thrown into question. Although Trotsky had a limited understanding of crucial contemporary events such as Hitler's rise to power, he was an important thinker and politician, not least as a trenchant critic of Stalin's version of communism.

What is the best way to organize an economy to satisfy demands for efficiency, compassion and freedom? These political, economic, social and philosophical concerns underpin what has been the most important issue of the twentieth-century, that of the relationship between market and plan. Markets and Socialism consists of extracts drawn from the most important contributors to the debate started by Karl Marx. In six thematic sections the reader can follow the vicissitudes of the non-market, market and mixed market models. The range of countries and historical sweep covered in this volume are impressive: from the 'socialist calculation' debate to the experiences of Russia, East-Central Europe, Sweden, America and China. A combination of theoretical analyses and practical case studies makes this volume essential reading for teachers, students and anyone interested in a clear and concise introduction to the central dilemma of our times.

This book contains fresh approaches to the interaction between regime and society in twentieth-century Russia. It offers new answers to familiar questions: * How useful is 'totalitarianism' as a model to categorise authoritarian regimes? * What chances existed for tsarism to establish itself as a constitutional monarchy? * Were Trotsky and Lenin dictators in waiting? * How did the Bolsheviks make the Lenin cult? * What opposition did intellectuals offer in the Soviet regime? * What is the nature of contemporary Russian constitutionalism? It is required reading for historians, political scientists, sociologists and everyone interested in modern Russia.