The Great Prince Died: A Novel About the Assassination of Trotsky
Sep 2015 · University of Chicago Press
Ebook
419
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
“Illuminating. . . . No one who reads [this novel] . . . can fail to be gripped by a tale well told. Its message is one the free world will ignore at its peril.” —Selden Rodman, New York Times
On August 20, 1940, Marxist philosopher, politician, and revolutionary Leon Trotsky was attacked with an ice axe in his home in Coyoacán, Mexico. He died the next day.
In The Great Prince Died, Bernard Wolfe offers his lyrical, fictionalized account of Trotsky’s assassination as witnessed through the eyes of an array of characters: the young American student helping to translate the exiled Trotsky’s work (and to guard him), the Mexican police chief, a Rumanian revolutionary, the assassin and his handlers, a poor Mexican “peón,” and Trotsky himself. Drawing on his own experiences working as the exiled Trotsky’s secretary and bodyguard and mixing in digressions on Mexican culture, Stalinist tactics, and Bolshevik history, Wolfe interweaves fantasy and fact, delusion and journalistic reporting to create one of the great political novels of the past century.
“Wolfe is a remarkable and essential lost American voice, and Great Prince is one of his finest books.” —Jonathan Lethem, national bestselling author of Fortress of Solitude
“A novel which burns its way into your mind and your memory. If you read it, you will not forget it.” —Newsday
“A hell of a read.” —Larry Grobel, Los Angeles Free Press
“Wolfe has written such convincing fiction that it may be difficult to remember that history may have happened in some other way.” —Maurice Dolbier, New York Herald Tribune
“Powerfully told.” —Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times, The Book Report
On August 20, 1940, Marxist philosopher, politician, and revolutionary Leon Trotsky was attacked with an ice axe in his home in Coyoacán, Mexico. He died the next day.
In The Great Prince Died, Bernard Wolfe offers his lyrical, fictionalized account of Trotsky’s assassination as witnessed through the eyes of an array of characters: the young American student helping to translate the exiled Trotsky’s work (and to guard him), the Mexican police chief, a Rumanian revolutionary, the assassin and his handlers, a poor Mexican “peón,” and Trotsky himself. Drawing on his own experiences working as the exiled Trotsky’s secretary and bodyguard and mixing in digressions on Mexican culture, Stalinist tactics, and Bolshevik history, Wolfe interweaves fantasy and fact, delusion and journalistic reporting to create one of the great political novels of the past century.
“Wolfe is a remarkable and essential lost American voice, and Great Prince is one of his finest books.” —Jonathan Lethem, national bestselling author of Fortress of Solitude
“A novel which burns its way into your mind and your memory. If you read it, you will not forget it.” —Newsday
“A hell of a read.” —Larry Grobel, Los Angeles Free Press
“Wolfe has written such convincing fiction that it may be difficult to remember that history may have happened in some other way.” —Maurice Dolbier, New York Herald Tribune
“Powerfully told.” —Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times, The Book Report
About the author
Bernard Wolfe (1915-85) was an American writer whose interests stretched from cybernetics to politics. He was the author of many books, including Limbo and The Late Risers, and coauthor of Mezz Mezzrow’s classic memoir, Really the Blues.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
