Trotsky: A Biography

Trotsky: A Biography is a biography of the Marxist theorist and revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) written by the English historian Robert Service, then a professor in Russian history at the University of Oxford. It was first published by Macmillan in 2009 and later translated into other languages.

Having converted to the Marxist revolutionary movement in early life, Trotsky had been a member of the Bolshevik Party and a significant figure in the October Revolution of 1917 which brought the Bolsheviks to power in the Russian Empire. Following the death of Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky's rival Joseph Stalin ascended to the Soviet leadership. Trotsky was internally exiled in 1928, deported in 1929 and murdered in Mexico in 1940.

After his death, various biographers produced works studying Trotsky; Service's differs from many of these in its emphasis. He argues that Trotsky has been romanticized by western leftists for decades, instead claiming that Trotsky laid the groundwork for the Stalinist totalitarian state in the Soviet Union and that had he become Soviet leader rather than Stalin, the end result would have been very similar.

The book received a mixed reception upon publication. The mainstream British and American press was overwhelmingly positive. Conversely, reviews in peer-reviewed, academic journals were more critical, highlighting factual errors throughout the text and viewing his work as an attempt to discredit Trotsky as a historical figure.

In 2010, a rebuttal to Service's historical interpretation was written by American political theorist and Trotskyist David North in his review "In Defense of Leon Trotsky". In 2011, fourteen professional historians and political scientists from Germany and Austria opposed the German publication of Services's book over concerns over its lack of reliable sources, anti-Semitism, and the number of factual errors. It was published in German by Suhrkamp Verlag in 2012.