My Life

My Life is the autobiography of Leon Trotsky a revolutionary socialist who played a key role in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. The book was written while Trotsky was living in exile in Turkey and was first published in 1930. In My Life Trotsky provides a detailed account of his political activities and personal experiences from his childhood in Ukraine to his years as a leading figure in the Bolshevik Party. He discusses his role in the Russian Revolution his years as a commissar in the Soviet government and his eventual falling out with Joseph Stalin and his followers. Throughout the book Trotsky provides a Marxist analysis of the political and social forces at work in Russia and the world. He argues that the Bolshevik Revolution represented a genuine socialist transformation but that this transformation was ultimately undermined by the Stalinist bureaucracy which he saw as a counter-revolutionary force. Trotsky also provides a candid and personal account of his relationships with other leaders of the Bolshevik Party including Lenin and Stalin. He describes his admiration for Lenins revolutionary vision and his deep sense of betrayal when Stalin turned against him. My Life is an important historical document that sheds light on the complex and tumultuous period of the early Soviet Union. It also offers insight into Trotskys ideas and his role as a revolutionary socialist and critic of Stalinism.