In 1988, Alan Woods interviewed Esteban Volkov - Leon Trotsky's grandson - in the Trotsky Museum in Coyoacan, Mexico, which Volkov is the director of. To commemorate the centenary of the October Revolution, we publish here extracts from the full interview, where Esteban presents a strong defence of both Trotsky and the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Capitalism is in its deepest crisis in its history. It is an economic, social and political crisis, which is now expressing itself in political turmoil and growing class struggle across the globe. While the ruling class attempts to bury Marxism, it has in fact never been so relevant as it is today. In this updated article, Alan Woods explains the essence of Marxism and its role today.

77 years ago, on 20th August 1940, Leon Trotsky - the great Marxist, international socialist, and Russian revolutionary - was struck down by a Stalinist agent in his home in Mexico. He died the following day. To commemorate Trotsky's life and ideas, we republish this article by Alan Woods, originally written in January 2000.