Trotsky: An Appreciation of His Life; Avocat de Trotsky

Carmichael's new, expansive, and swiftly moving life story of Trotsky, while not replacing that by Isaac Deutscher, is a sympathetic and critical portrait of his career, personality, and character rather than an analysis of his thought and works. Living on theories, and thus on illusions, his exile and death have the inevitability of classic tragedy. The rather slight book by Rosenthal, who was Trotsky's secretary and lawyer, adds interesting material on the years of exile.