Introducing Trotsky and Marxism

This introduction shows how Trotsky predicted the Holocaust and foresaw events in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Eastern bloc. It explains how he saw the Stalinist system as a transitional state which would either move toward socialism or revert to capitalism.

Together with Lenin, Leon Trotsky was one of the architects of the Russian Revolution. A great orator, a skilful military tactician, a gifted historian and an unpredictable cultural theorist, Trotsky was brought down by inner-party factionalism, exiled and then executed by Stalin. This book shows how Trotsky's prophetic insights foresaw the rise of Hitler and the price humanity would have to pay. Even before the Second World War he predicted the Holocaust. He also foresaw the events in eastern Europe following the collapse of the Communist bloc, predicting in 1936 that the Stalinist system in Russia was merely a transitional state which would either move towards socialism or revert to capitalism. Tariq Ali and Phil Evans give us an irreverent but sympathetic look at the enigma of Trotsky, in a timely reminder of a major figure of 20th century politics.