The Trail of the Dinosaur [Import] [Hardcover]

ARTHUR KOESTLER (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: HUTCHINSON; Danube Ed edition (1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009104510X
• ISBN-13: 978-0091045104
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,335,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Budapest in 1905, educated in Vienna, Arthur Koestler immersed himself in the major ideological and social conflicts of his time. A communist during the 1930s, and visitor for a time in the Soviet Union, he became disillusioned with the Party and left it in 1938. Later that year in Spain, he was captured by the Fascist forces under Franco, and sentenced to death. Released through the last-minute intervention of the British government, he went to France where, the following year, he again was arrested for his political views. Released in 1940, he went to England, where he made his home. His novels, reportage, autobiographical works, and political and cultural writings established him as an important commentator on the dilemmas of the 20th century. He died in 1983.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of interesting ideas, December 25, 2007

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE TRAIL OF THE DINOSAUR (Hardcover)

Arthur Koestler was a fine author who gave us "Darkness at Noon," "Thieves in the Night," "Promise and Fulfilment," "The Sleepwalkers," "The Thirteenth Tribe," and much more. He was also one of the authors of "The God that Failed."

This book is definitely not one of Koestler's best known works. But I enjoyed it. It is a collection of some of Koestler's essays, dating from 1946 to 1955.

The very first essay shows a clear moral dilemma. If one refuses to make any sacrifices for the sake of society, society will be destroyed. If one sacrifices everything for the supposed sake of society, society will also be destroyed. Where does one draw the line?

There is a very interesting article on the Hiss-Chambers case. Koestler notes that Chambers was attacked as a renegade ex-Communist. And Koestler quite properly ignored some confusing elements of the case (some of what Hiss was accused of looked dubious, but Hiss' intent to help the Communists was pretty much unchallenged). I think the result is a very reasonable defence of Chambers.

We also see an article on Judaism, where Koestler suggests that all Jews either go to Israel or renounce Judaism. Well, um, that's really up to them, isn't it? It is sort of like asking all Mormons to move to America or renounce Mormonism. Still, I found this idea interesting, although I certainly do not agree.

There is a hilarious story about what Russia might be like after the fall of Communism there. And the book finishes with the title essay, which discusses the dramatic increase in destructive power available to us humans in recent times, along with (according to Koestler) a corresponding decrease in moral strength.