Bertrand Patenaude talked about his book, Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary (Harper; August 25, 2009), which recounts the life of Red Army chief Leon Trotsky. He examined Trotsky's political career, from his ascendancy as a young Marxist to a Bolshevik leader, whose feud with Joseph Stalin led to his being targeted for assassination during his exile in Mexico. Following his remarks he responded to audience members' questions.