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Espionage, Scandal, and the Crime of the Century
by H. Keith Melton
In August 1940, Leon Trotsky, living in a fortified villa in Mexico City, welcomed a man he believed to be a friend into his study.
Hidden beneath the visitor's raincoat was the weapon that would change the course of revolutionary history—a small ice axe, wielded on the direct orders of Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. As Trotsky sat at his desk reviewing an article, the assassin drove the ice axe into his head. Hours later, news of the attack spread across the globe, as Trotsky succumbed to his wounds the following day.
This landmark book delivers the most authoritative account yet of the covert operation that led to one of the twentieth century's most shocking political assassinations. Immersing readers in a world of deception, betrayal, and manipulation, it reveals how Soviet espionage, seduction, and ruthless determination eliminated Stalin's most feared rival.
Co-authors H. Keith Melton and Nigel West—internationally recognized authorities on intelligence and espionage—draw on more than forty years of combined research. With exclusive access to newly unearthed Moscow intelligence files and the recently discovered letters of one of Trotsky's personal guards, they uncover the intricate web of conspirators in the United States and Europe who orchestrated the clandestine machinery of Stalin's secret war.
No one is better equipped to illuminate this story than Melton and West. Their masterful narrative pulls back the curtain on a crime of global consequence—an unforgettable tale of loyalty, treachery, and murder at the highest levels of power.
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This information about The Assassination of Leon Trotsky was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
H. Keith Melton has spent more than 35 years as a historical consultant to the U.S. and international intelligence community. A frequent lecturer at the CIA, FBI, and NSA, he also advises allied intelligence services worldwide. Melton has produced or appeared in over sixty documentaries on espionage and is the owner of the world's largest private collection of intelligence artifacts―including the infamous ice axe that killed Leon Trotsky. He is a founding board member of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., where he continues to serve as a permanent member of the Board of Directors.
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