With razor-sharp insight and wit, Trotsky points to the necessity for art to exist free from political and social agendas, as well as from the shackles, the stereotypes, the dark ignorance of reactionary class rule. These are not at all contradictory goals. Trotsky declares boldly in these articles that artistic truth must be based not on any particular literary school or dogma but on "the immutable faith of the artist in his own inner self." In this collection Trotsky debates Stalinists, appreciates Tolstoy, Essenin, Gorky, and Jack London, and slam-dunks Winston Churchill's pretentious writings. Must reading for activists who seek to advance their understanding of the arts as well as for writers and artists seeking to understand how their work relates to society.