Darkness at Noon
by Koestler, Arthur
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine
- Seller
-
Horncastle, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Darkness at Noon, by Hungarian-born British writer Arthur Koestler, is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the government that he had helped to create. The novel is understood as an allegory to the USSR in 1938, the Great Purge, and the Moscow Trials. However, the text never mentions the Soviet Union or Russia (just “Country of the Revolution” and “Over There”) or Joseph Stalin (only “Number One,” a menacing dictator). Perhaps the lack of specific references is Koestler’s way of making the story seem more universal, but it’s clear he has in mind actual places, people, and events. Koestler was actually a proponent of Marxism-Leninism until Stalin’s 1938 Purge and the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact. Afterwards, he edited an anti-Hitler, anti-Stalin newspaper. Koestler wrote the novel in German while living in Paris, from where he escaped in 1940 just before the Nazi troops arrived. Darkness at Noon owes its publication to the decision of sculptor Daphne Hardy, Koestler’s lover in Paris, to translate the text into English before she herself escaped. Koestler wrote Darkness at Noon as the second part of a trilogy; the first volume is The Gladiators (1939), first published in Hungarian. It is a novel about the subversion of the Spartacus revolt. The third novel is Arrival and Departure (1943), about a refugee during World War II. By then living in London, Koestler wrote the third in English. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Sidney Kingsley adapted it for Broadway in 1951.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Roger Lucas Booksellers (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 25174
- Title
- Darkness at Noon
- Author
- Koestler, Arthur
- Illustrator
- Buday, George
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- First Thus
- Publisher
- Folio Society
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1980
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
- Keywords
- Fiction
Terms of Sale
Roger Lucas Booksellers
It has always been our policy over 25 years to offer decent books in good shape at sane prices. In the unlikely eventuality that something is not as described return within 7 days of receipt for a full refund.
About the Seller
Roger Lucas Booksellers
About Roger Lucas Booksellers
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Folio
- A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15" in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further,...