Leon Trotsky died more than half a century ago at the hands of a Stalinist agent. But what was it about this "hero of revolution," the oracle and prophet of the "world fire" that made him, who had long fled the USSR, still dangerous for Stalin? Why did the rivalry between the two leaders of Bolshevism take on such a tragic connotation and had such terrible consequences for the whole country? What brought Trotsky to the ranks of the revolutionaries? What is the fate of his family? What was behind the strange history of the Brest Peace? What is the "Trotsky paradox" in general? Here are just a few of the questions answered by this book, based on genuine documents, a significant part of which until recently was stored in the classified archives of the NKVD - KGB.