Leon Trotsky played a central role in the revolutionary movement that shaped the world of the 20th century.

He was the president of the Petrograd Soviet - the first workers' council - during the Russian Revolution of 1905. He was the author of the theory of Permanent Revolution. The first to see that revolutionary change could not be limited to "bourgeois" frameworks, but had to advance towards the workers' revolution and socialism.

He was the organizer of the October 1917 uprising, when the workers took power for the first time.

He was the creator of the Red Army, which defended the workers' state during the civil war against the invading Western armies that sought to crush it.
He was the leader of the opposition that fought uncompromisingly against Stalin and the bureaucratic counter-revolution.

He was the first to provide a Marxist analysis of fascism and how we can stop it.

He was the continuator of the revolutionary tradition of the working class and the unique analyst of the great class struggles that shook the world in the 1930s.

There is no doubt about Trotsky's genius. However, no genius involved in the great issues of our time can remain infallible.

Cliff's political biography contributes to understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of Trotsky. It consists of four volumes. The first volume covers the period up to October 25, 1917, the day of the victorious workers' revolution.