Next week we will mark the 80th anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky with an international online rally. We republish here an article by Alan Woods reflecting on the incredible life of this revolutionary giant.

Today marks the anniversary of Leon Trotsky’s assassination. Struck down 75 years ago by an ice-pick to the head from a cowardly Stalinist assassin, he soon fell into a coma and died the following day, on 21st August 1940. To commemorate the life and ideas of the great revolutionary leader, we are re-publishing an article here by Rob Sewell, written in 2012.

In this recent talk to the UCLU Marxist Society, Alan Woods explains the main concepts behind the ideas of Marxism, including dialectical materialism – the philosophy of Marxism – and Marx’s economic analysis.