The death of Trotsky : the true story of the plot to kill Stalin's greatest enemy / Josh Ireland.
| Author/creator | Ireland, Josh, 1981- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York, NY : Dutton, [2026] |
| Description | 369 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Portion of title | True story of the plot to kill Stalin's greatest enemy |
| Contents | Prologue -- Part One. Death solves all problems -- Liar, traitor, scum -- Attrition -- Kremlin complexion -- Part Two. A perfect Communist family -- Black work -- Super-bandit -- The crucible -- Part Three. The only honest government in the world -- Piochitas -- Comrade Pablo -- The kid -- Polecats -- Walking in a graveyard -- Our little Lyova -- The citadel -- Part Four. I like to act -- He couldn't be forgiven -- Childish games -- So funny -- Pictures and everything -- Part Five. Si, No, Gracias -- Muerte a Trotsky -- Two hundred bullets -- Things are better as they are -- Shipping documents -- Part Six. Fear -- Other methods -- I feel really good -- Him again -- Aftermath -- Epilogue: 'One does not choose the time to live, die, or kill' -- Acknowledgments -- Author's note -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| Abstract | "For fans of Ben Macintyre, the gripping story of the assassination of Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky and the deadly game of cat and mouse that preceded it"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Abstract | On August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky invited a man he knew only as Jacques Mornard into his study. Mornard waited for Trotsky to sit, then smashed an ice pick he had hidden in his raincoat into Trotsky's skull. For over a decade, Trotsky's greatest enemy, Joseph Stalin, had been trying to arrange his murder. Stalin's agents had hunted him across Europe and into a lonely, bitter exile in Mexico. He had liquidated Trotsky's family and friends, and yet Trotsky had always escaped his clutches. The man who changed this all was Ramón Mercader, a minor Spanish aristocrat and Soviet agent who had posed as Mornard, a dissolute Belgian playboy, and infiltrated Trotsky's inner circle. In The Death of Trotsky, Josh Ireland traces the separate paths walked by each of these protagonists as they steadily draw closer and closer to that fateful encounter on August 20. Blending intimate historical detail and thrilling historical narrative, swinging from Moscow to Paris to Mexico, and taking in a cast of morally conflicted Russian spies, fanatical Mexican painters, and innocent American idealists, The Death of Trotsky delves into the lives of two fascinating, complex men locked in a life-or-death struggle that would bend the course of history. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-350) and index. |
| Genre/form | Informational works. |
| Genre/form | Documents d'information. |
| LCCN | 2024055779 |
| ISBN | 9780593187104 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0593187105 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | New Books | DK254 .T6 I74 2026 | ✔ Available | Want This? |