Cross Word Books
Cross Word Books
Michele McAloon
Trotsky, Stalin, And The Ice Axe
42 minutes Posted Feb 26, 2026 at 2:00 pm.
Welcome And Book Setup
Who Was Trotsky’s Killer Author
Researching Stalin And Trotsky
Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, And Power
Trotsky Vs Stalin: Mirror Opposites
From February To October 1917
The Seeds Of Deadly Rivalry
Trotsky’s Stalin Biography And Myth
NKVD And The Machinery Of Terror
Exile Trail To Mexico
Ramon Mercader’s Path To Murder
Honey Traps And Sylvia Ageloff
Rivera, Kahlo, And Isolation
The Killing And Cover Story
0:00
42:50
Download MP3
Show notes
Send us Fan Mail find out about Cross Word Books podcast https://bookclues.com./ A single ice axe swung in a quiet Mexico City study, but the shockwave started decades earlier, on the edges of a collapsing empire. We follow the combustible rivalry between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin—from exile and revolution to a propaganda war that turned one man’s image into the regime’s most useful enemy. Our guest, author Josh Ireland, brings meticulous research and narrative clarity to a story where i...