The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky

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The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky
Book cover of The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky by Isaac Deutscher, showing a portrait of Leon Trotsky.
Book cover
AuthorIsaac Deutscher
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction, Biography
PublisherOxford University Press (original editions)
Published1954, 1959, 1963 (first editions)
Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback), Kindle,[a] Audiobook.[b]
No. of books3

The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky is a three-volume biography of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein[c] (7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1879 – 21 August 1940[2])) by the Polish-British historian Isaac Deutscher. The series traces Trotsky's life from his early revolutionary activities to his eventual assassination in exile. Widely read and influential,[d] the trilogy presents a sympathetic but critical account of Trotsky's political development and historical significance.[3][4][5]

Volumes

About the author

Isaac Deutscher (Polish: Izaak Deutscher; 3 April 1907 – 19 August 1967) was a Polish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom before the outbreak of World War II.[8] He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs.[9][10][11][12][13]

See also

References

Notes

  1. The Kindle edition from Verso Books published in 2015 is of the unabridged three volume set, 2055pp.
  2. The audiobook edition from Tantor Media published in 2025 is of the unabridged three volume set, and is narrated by Nigel Patterson, (Running time: 62:43:00)[1].
  3. Russian: Лев "Лейба" Давидович Бронштейн, romanized: Lev "Leyba" Davidovich Bronshteyn, IPA: [lʲef lʲɪjbə dɐˈvʲidəvʲɪtɕ brɐnʂˈtʲejn], /ˈtrɒtski/; Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий, romanized: Lev Davidovich Trotskiy, IPA: [ˈlʲef ˈtrotskʲɪj] ; Ukrainian: Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated Lyev, Trotski, Trockij and Trotzky
  4. See the Reception and academic reviews section of each volume.
  5. The titles The Prophet Armed and The Prophet Unarmed reference a quote from Niccolò Machiavelli, "Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed." (Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter 6).[6]

Citations

  1. "The Prophet". Tantor Media. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  2. "Trotsky". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
  3. Rieber, Alfred J. (1965). "Review of The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky, 1929–1940 by Isaac Deutscher". The Journal of Modern History. 37 (1). University of Chicago Press: 118–119.
  4. Tompkins, Stuart R. (1960). "Review of The Prophet Unarmed: Trotsky 1921–1929 by Isaac Deutscher". The Slavonic and East European Review. 39 (92). Modern Humanities Research Association: 267–268.
  5. Warth, Robert (1956). "Review of The Prophet Armed: Trotsky, 1879–1921 by Isaac Deutscher". The Journal of Modern History. 28 (2). University of Chicago Press: 189–190.
  6. Deutscher, Isaac (1963). "Preface". The Prophet Armed: Trotsky, 1879–1921. Oxford University Press.
  7. "Tony Cliff Archive". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  8. "Isaac Deutscher Archive". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  9. Caute, David (2013). "Isaac and Isaiah: The Covert Punishment of a Cold War Heretic". Yale University Press.
  10. Shore, Marci (2006). "Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918–1968". Yale University Press.
  11. Davidson, Neil (2004). "The prophet, his biographer and the watchtower". International Socialism (104).
  12. Beilharz, Peter (1986). "Isaac Deutscher: History and Necessity". History of Political Thought. 7 (2). Imprint Academic Ltd.: 375–384. JSTOR 26213281.
  13. Linfield, Susie (2019). "Isaac Deutscher: A Very Jewish Jew". The Lions' Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky. Yale University Press. pp. 140–164.

Further reading