Leon Trotsky, one of the leading figures of the Russian October Revolution, remains a controversial figure.
For many, Trotsky’s assassination in Mexico marked a tragedy in Soviet history, cutting off the possibility of a humane version of communism taking hold in Russia, with Trotsky himself arguing that he would have held back the tides of arbitrary rule and terror. But is that so? In answering this question and others about Trotsky’s ideas, political defeat, and exile, Hitchens and Service speak to the very nature of communist ideology.(35:56) Video transcript
Guests:
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens is the author of more than ten books, including, most recently, God Is Not Great — How Religion Poisons Everything. He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, and has written prolifically for American and English periodicals, including the Nation, the London Review of Books, Granta, Harper's, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, New Left Review, Slate, the New York Review of Books, Newsweek International, the Times Literary Supplement, the Atlantic, and the Washington Post. He is also a regular television and radio commentator.
