Соколы Троцкого

The memoirs of A.G.Barmin (1899-1987), a `defector` diplomat, were among the main sources for foreign researchers of the Soviet period of the 20-30s for many years. As for domestic historians, especially the general reader, this book was simply inaccessible to them, since there was no translation of it into Russian until now. The reason for this lies in the fact that the name of the author could not be pronounced aloud, since from the mid-40s he headed the Russian service of the Voice of America radio station. Meanwhile, the book of A.G. Barmin is of undoubted interest. The author, an active participant in the Civil War, one of the first painters with an academic education, nurtured, like many other proponents of the revolution, by L.D. Trotsky, was completely devoted to him. The book presents a wide gallery of diplomatic and economic workers, prominent military leaders who became "enemies of the people" in the fateful 1930s. The tense atmosphere of those years, the painful struggle of people between duty and fear of repression, is also well conveyed. The book is supplied with unique materials and photographs from the Barmin family archive (USA).