The Premonitions Bureau
'Stunning . . . Brimming with mystery' PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Fascinating.' HILARY MANTEL
'Stunning . . . Brimming with mystery.' PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE
'Enthralling: a work of inspired, tireless and deeply compassionate curiosity.' HELEN GARNER
What if you had a vision that something terrible was going to happen?
A train crash, a department store fire, an assassination.
What if you could share your vision, and prevent a disaster?
In 1966, John Barker, a British psychiatrist working in an outdated British mental hospital, established the Premonitions Bureau to investigate this very idea. He would find a network of curious correspondents, and among them two highly gifted 'percipients'. Together, they predicted calamities and international incidents with uncanny accuracy. And then, they gave Barker their most disturbing warning: that he was about to die.
Sam Knight's book The Premonitions Bureau was a Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 07-05-2022
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In 1966, the Aberfan tragedy saw 144 lives lost, most of them children, after coal waste slid down a mountain and engulfed a Welsh mining village. When experimental psychiatrist Dr John Barker heard how dozens of Britons claimed to have foreseen this awful accident, it inspired his groundbreaking initiative: asking the public to share their visions of the future, with the aim of preventing such catastrophes. It was called the Premonitions Bureau and now New Yorker journalist Sam Knight tells its stranger-than-fiction story in his debut book. Emerging from the cranks and time-wasters came two eccentrics who seemed to be genuine seers, predicting plane crashes and political assassinations with chilling accuracy. Could Barker utilise their eerie psychic gifts to save lives? What about when they dreamt he was about to die himself? It’s a haunting slice of pop science. Knight’s beautifully paced prose is packed with historical insight and quirky digressions. His cast of supporting characters ranges from Freud to Socrates, from J.B. Priestley to the Bee Gees. Fans of Jon Ronson, The X Files or paranormal podcasts will find much to savour in this meticulously researched, stunningly atmospheric piece of narrative non-fiction. Don’t have nightmares.
