Darkness at Noon dramatises the Moscow show trials and the elimination of the Bolshevik old guard by "No.1" In the Fatherland of Revolution. Told primarily from the point of view of N.S. Rubashov a fictitious merging of real Bolsheviks known to Koestler
Written in 1940 and an influence on Orwell's own writings, particularly Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four Darkness at Noon is an account of one of the many show trials that were a common feature of Stalin's USSR.
It also describes in detail life brief as it was in political prison its daily routines and the methods used to extract confessions.
Attachments
[Arthur_Koestler]_Darkness_at_Noon.pdf
(771.61 KB)
darkness_at_noon_koestler_arthur.epub
(242.57 KB)
Comments
Unfortunately the PDF was one
Unfortunately the PDF was one of those weirdly squashed formats, it still contains the complete novel though with an unusual Anglicisation of Russian names.
I should also point out that despite being written from the point of view of an Old Bolshevik Darkness is not an apologist tract for the Trotsky's and Bukharins. Rubashov while having the best intentions has in the name of Party service done some very callous and cruel things in his past and its not until after he finds himself in prison that he fully acknowledges his real sins.