A Note on Sources

In writing this counter-historical novel, I drew on many sources, some of which I had read decades before, some of which I read recently, specifically to more accurately portray the period and my fictional characters. I should say before turning to other sources, that the book which most influenced my thinking about Trotsky in the later period of his life was Victor Serge’s Carnets (1936-1947) now available in English as Notebooks: 1936-1947.

I list some of the other most important sources here. – DL

Leon Trotsky was a great writer and anyone interested in the era should read his History of the Russian Revolution, his account of the counter-revolution, The Revolution Betrayed, his autobiography My Life.

The best biography of Trotsky in English is Isaac Deutscher’s trilogy: The Prophet Outcast, The Prophet Armed, and, The Prophet Unarmed. Pierre Broué’s French language Trotsky may be considered the authoritative biography. Olivia Gall’s Spanish language Trotsky en México deals with his Mexican exile. Albert Glotzer’s Trotsky: Memoir and Critique provides an interesting critical outlook.

For the life of Natalia Sedova, I found very helpful the collection of essays in Maurice Nadeau et al., Hommage à Natalia Sedova-Trotsky, 1882-1962, published in Paris in 1962.

To learn more about Boris Souvarine, the author of Stalin: A Critical Survey of Bolshevism, I recommend a collection of his essays edited by Al Richmond titled What became of the Revolution: selected writings of Boris Souvarine. There is also another excellent collection in French, A contre-courant : écrits 1925-1939.

For Victor Serge, one must read his Memoirs of a Revolutionary as well as the Notebooks already mentioned. Susan Weissman’s Victor Serge: The Course is Set on Hope, which is also available under the title Victor Serge: A Biography, is an excellent examination of his life and its significance.

Susan Weissman essay, “Mark ‘Etienne’ Zborowski: Portrait of Deception,” which was published in two installments in Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory,gives a fascinating account of the GPU agent.

On American Trotskyism there are James P. Cannon’s The History of American Trotskyism: Report of a Participant and Constance Asherton Myers’ book The Prophet’s Army: Trotskyists in America, 1928-1941. Max Shachtman developed an alternative to Trotsky’s theory of the Soviet Union that can be found in his book The Bureaucratic Revolution: The Rise of the Stalinist State. For French Trotskyism in with this period there is Yvan Craipeau’s engaging Mémoires d’un dinosaure trotskyste: Sécretaire de Trotsky en 1933.

For Joseph Stalin’s life, I recommend Robert C. Tucker’s two-volume biography. Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin, two volumes published so far and a third coming, each about 1,000 pages, will be too much for most, but he has many fascinating details. Jonathan Brent and Vladimir P. Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime: The Plot Against the Jewish Doctors, 1948-1953 provides many specifics. The memoir of Boris Bajanov, who was Stalin’s secretary, titled Bajanov Révèle Stalin is often criticized for good reasons, but I found it useful for getting a feel for the world of Stalin and the bureaucracy.

For those interested in Jean-Paul Sartre and the Rassemblement démocratique révolutionnaire, I suggest Ian H. Birchall’s Sartre against Stalinism. One can hear the voices of Sartre and his collaborators in Entretiens sur la politique, conversations in French between J-P Sartre, David Rousset, and Gérard Rosenthal.

For the Mexican Revolution, Adolfo Gilly’s La Revolución interrumpida, published in English as The Mexican Revolution is the best analysis.

For the city of Tijuana, there is T.D. Profitt’s Tijuana: The History of a Mexican Metropolis and Jorge Bustamante’s wonderful little book Historia de la colonia Libertad. On the Magonista takeover of Tijuana there is the two-volume account La gran aventura en México by Lawrence Taylor.

The best historical novel about Trotsky is Leonardo Padura’s wonderful El hombre que amaba a los perros available in English as The Man who Loved Dogs.