The Revolution Betrayed - What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going? Leon Trotsky The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going? is a book published in 1937 by the exiled Soviet Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky. This frequently reprinted work analyzed and criticized the course of historical development in the Soviet Union following the death of Lenin in 1924 and is regarded as Trotsky's primary work dealing with the nature of Stalinism. The book was written by Trotsky during his exile in Norway and was originally translated into French by Victor Serge. The most widely available English translation is by Max Eastman.