"This diary of the exiled Trotsky is a powerfully evocative fragment of history and human personality... Written in France and Norway, it gives the day-to-day reflections of a fallen leader, of one who has wielded power and was now in an exceptional position to observe it in the hands of others. Naturally there are penetrating comments here on local and international politics, often timeless in their relevance, but with them comes admission to the private world of the revolutionary intellectual. Here Trotsky lived with anguish, was beset by loneliness, and sustained himself by pride and fanaticism"--Provided by publisher.