Arrival and Departure.

KOESTLER, Arthur.

$750.00

Item Number: 5695

London: Jonathan Cape, 1943.

First edition of the third novel in the author’s classic trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication on the half-title page, “Elisa Mann from Arthur Koestler London, 24.XI.43.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

Written during the middle of World War II, Arrival and Departure reflects Koestler's own plight as a Hungarian refugee. Like Koestler, the main character is a former member of the Communist party. He escapes to 'Neutralia', a neutral country based on Portugal, where Koestler himself had gone, and flees from there. Reviewing Arrival and Departure in December 1943 George Orwell called it notable "for what must be one of the most shocking descriptions of Nazi terrorism that have ever been written."