"A central European Jew born in 1905, Koestler was molded by his times. Uprooted by war and revolution and hounded by prejudice, he struggled to make sense of a world on the edge of apocalypse.

His search for meaning, identity and belonging swept him up in the raging ideological torrents of his times - Zionism, Communism, anti-Communism and both hard scientific and esoteric mystical pursuits - and culminated in an idiosyncratic and deeply personal ideological position that has confused and eluded critics and commentators."--BOOK JACKET.

"Equally restless in his personal relationships, Koestler made and broke friendships and marriages. His violent affairs with women were legendary, but until now the shocking details of his private life were hidden from view by loyal friends and obscured by the Olympian prose of his autobiographical writing. Cesarani is the first to make unrestricted use of Koestler's private papers.

He also draws on previously secret documents held by the KGB and the FBI, which expose the depth of Koestler's involvement in the Communist Party and, later, his relations with the CIA."--BOOK JACKET.