This one is deservedly Top 10 (although it is a translation from the German).  It is the story of Rubashov, an aging revolutionary in an unnamed Revolutionary State (obviously the Soviet Union).  He is arrested & repeatedly interrogated, until he finally admits to a series of crimes against the State, which it is obvious to us and to his interrogators that he could not possibly have committed.

Koestler, a former Communist, examines how dedicated Communists were brought to the point where they confessed ridiculous crimes in Stalin's Show Trials of the 1930's.  In so doing, he also demonstrates that once you convince youself that the ends justify the means, you should not be surprised when those means are turned against you.

(Reviewed:)

Grade: (A+) Orrin C. Judd

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