# The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold - Hardcover

by **Sam Knight** (Author)

****"This is rich, florid, funny history, with undertones of human grief . . . Knight is shrewd and perceptive . . . \[he\] pushes his material into neurobiology, into the nature of placebos and expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies . . . Knight's book is crisp." --**Dwight Garner, _New York Times_******

"\[E\]legant and eccentric . . . \[Knight's\] prose glides like mercury and he does not waste a word. With deft skill, he explores historical theories of perception, time, death, fear."_  
\--**_New York Times Book Review_**_

"\[A\] thought-provoking and deeply researched book . . . Knight probes the space between coincidence and the ineffable mystery of supernatural possibilities."_  
\--**_NPR Books_**_

"\[Knight's\] prose delights."  
_\--**_Wall Street Journal_**  
_  
"Stunning... An enveloping, unsettling book, gorgeously written and profound." --**Patrick Radden Keefe, _New York Times_ bestselling author of _Say Nothing_ and _Empire of Pain_**

**From a rising star _New Yorker_ staff writer, the incredible and gripping true story of John Barker, a psychiatrist who investigated the power of premonitions--and came to believe he himself was destined for an early death**

On the morning of October 21, 1966, Kathleen Middleton, a music teacher in suburban London, awoke choking and gasping, convinced disaster was about to strike. An hour later, a mountain of rubble containing waste from a coal mine collapsed above the village of Aberfan, swamping buildings and killing 144 people, many of them children. Among the doctors and emergency workers who arrived on the scene was John Barker, a psychiatrist from Shelton Hospital, in Shrewsbury. At Aberfan, Barker became convinced there had been supernatural warning signs of the disaster, and decided to establish a "premonitions bureau," in conjunction with the _Evening Standard_ newspaper, to collect dreams and forebodings from the public, in the hope of preventing future calamities.

Middleton was one of hundreds of seemingly normal people, who would contribute their visions to Barker's research in the years to come, some of them unnervingly accurate. As Barker's work plunged him deeper into the occult, his reputation suffered. But in the face of professional humiliation, Barker only became more determined, ultimately realizing with terrible certainty that catastrophe had been prophesied in his own life.

In Sam Knight's crystalline telling, this astonishing true story comes to encompass the secrets of the world. We all know premonitions are impossible--and yet they come true all the time. Our lives are full of collisions and coincidence: the question is how we perceive these implausible events and therefore make meaning in our lives_. The Premonitions Bureau_ is an enthralling account of madness and wonder, of science and the supernatural. With an unforgettable ending, it is a mysterious journey into the most unsettling reaches of the human mind.

### Author Biography

**Sam Knight** is a staff writer at _The New Yorker_, based in London. Previously, Knight wrote for _The Guardian_ (London), _Financial Times_, and _The New York Times_. _The Premonitions Bureau_ is his first book.  

**Number of Pages:** 256

**Dimensions:** 1.1 x 9.06 x 5.98 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** May 03, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 28.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 28.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold - Hardcover

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