There is a well known saying, Habent sua fata libelli—“Books have their destinies.” Actually, as I recently learned upon consulting the contemporary world’s incomparable source of information, Wikipedia, this phrase is a shortened and simplified version of the more profound statement, attributed to the ancient grammarian Terentianus Maurus. He wrote: “Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli” (literally, “According to the capabilities of the reader, books have their destiny”) [1]

In other words, the reader is an active agent in the shaping of a book’s destiny. It is through its readers that a book makes its way in the world.

Fortunately, In Defense of Leon Trotsky attracted the attention of a number of highly principled scholars. Professor Bertrand Patenaude wrote the joint review of my book and Robert Service’s biography of Trotsky, published in June 2011 in the American Historical Review, which attracted so much attention. His review was followed by the Open Letter to Surkamp that was signed by Professors Herman Weber, Mario Kessler, Helmut Dahmer, Bernhard Bayerlein, Heiko Haumann, Wladyslaw Hedeler, Andrea Hurton, Hartmut Mehringer, Oskar Negt, Hanz Schafranek, Oliver Rathkolb, Peter Steinbach, Reiner Tosstorff and Rolf Wörsdörfer.