One of history's greatest revolutionaries awaits his assassination.
As Leon Trotsky sits inside his heavily guarded villa in Mexico City, he knows that Joseph Stalin has not forgotten him.
Once hailed as Lenin's brilliant lieutenant and commander of the Red Army, Trotsky has become the Soviet dictator's most dangerous enemy. His extraordinary journey began decades earlier on the vast plains of the Russian Empire.
In this opening episode of our new series, we trace Trotsky's life from his childhood as Lev Bronstein on the Ukrainian steppe to his transformation into one of the most influential revolutionaries of the twentieth century.
We explore the world of the Romanov Empire, the reforms of Alexander II, the rise of industrialisation, and the social tensions that pushed millions towards radical political ideas.
As Russia hurtles towards crisis, the young Trotsky embraces Marxism, endures imprisonment and exile in Siberia, escapes to Western Europe, and encounters Vladimir Lenin for the first time.
The episode also examines the failed Revolution of 1905, the growing divisions within the socialist movement, Trotsky's first meeting with the little-known revolutionary Joseph Stalin, and the outbreak of the First World War, which would bring the Romanov dynasty to the brink of collapse.
How did the son of a prosperous farmer become history's most famous revolutionary exile?
Why did Trotsky believe that only revolution could save Russia?
And how did the First World War create the conditions that would transform both Trotsky and the twentieth century?
Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins the extraordinary story of Leon Trotsky, the revolutionary who helped change the world before becoming the greatest enemy of Joseph Stalin.
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