New Releases by Arthur Koestler

The story of Dr. Paul Kammerer, an Austrian experimental biologist, who committed suicide in 1926 after becoming involved in the Lamarckian-neo-Darwinist evolutionary controversy

"Mr. Koestler''s main concern is with demonstrating that, contrary to what one might expect- namely, that...paranormal events are most disturbing because they seem to break what most of us think are the laws of the real world- it is precisely modern physics that offers a "rapprochement" between the real world and parapsychology, even if the rapprochement is "negative in the sense that the unthinkable phenomena of ESP appear somewhat less preposterous in the light of the unthinkable propositions of physics." As Mr. Koestler so lucidly and wittily demonstrates, modern physics depicts a world of noncausational paradoxes- a wonderland of Heisenbergian Principles of Uncertainty, of mysterious elementary particles, of psi-fields, anti-electrons, multi-dimensionality, and time running forward and backward. And unlike Newton''s clockwork universe, this new world is not at all uncongenial to the dice-shooter convinced that he has a "hot" hand or the sensitive who insists that his dreams are premonitory" -- by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times, August 11, 1972.

This selection of essays, book-reviews, broadcast talks and papers delivered to learned societies reflects the extraordinary breadth of Arthur Koestler''s interests. From the trial of Galileo to the pleasures of canoeing down the Loire, from a detailed examination of the ''memory'' of flatworms to an equally detailed examination of the futility of quarantining dogs, the author writes about a vast range of subjects which occupied his attention in the twelve years (1955-1967) covered by this collection. Those were the years that saw, among many other works, the publication of his great trilogy about the mind of man: THE SLEEPWALKERS, THE ACT OF CREATION, and THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE. It is not surprising therefore, that many of these essays elaborate certain aspects of arguments which occur in those books. They could, as the author says in his Preface, ''be called variations on certain themes'', and the selection of books reviewed also reveals a certain thematic coherence. There is, however, a great deal of miscellaneous material, quite different in nature from Koestler''s scientific preoccupations, with which he has been so closely associated in recent years. This includes the subjects of his ''crusades'', such as the campaign for the abolition of hanging, the scandal of our quarantine laws, some escapist travel essays, and some controversies in which he became engaged. Like everything Koestler writes, DRINKERS OF INFINITY not only stimulates the mind, but gives the greatest pleasure to the reader while doing so.

A brand new edition of Arthur Koestler''s gripping tale of arrest, imprisonment, and subsequent escape to London from Nazi-occupied France. Arthur Koestler is now an essential part of the English literary landscape both as political activist, controversialist and the author of Darkness at Noon. He stands beside George Orwell as one of the key writers of the twentieth century who embraced communism but would later turn against the "party"and denounce the tragic distortions and abuses that had betrayed the great vision.

The Gladiators (1939) is the first novel by the author Arthur Koestler; it portrays the effects of the Spartacus revolt in the Roman Republic.

First published in 1960.

Essays on literature, politics, and European current affairs.

A drama about what happens when two characters from another planet arrive on earth to investigate the state of earth''s happiness. There is a scheme afoot to wipe out, with powerful delta rays, the population of whichever planet proves to be the least happy, and so far none has been discovered less happy than that of the earth.