Any novel about a defendant in the Moscow Show Trials would be interesting based on the unusual setting alone. What makes Darkness At Noon fantastic, however, is the characterization and attention to detail. The way Koestler describes Rubashov’s pacing, communication, and physical tics puts the reader in the mindset of a prisoner nervously awaiting the inevitable sentence. The conflicts in Rubashov’s mind about his past treatment of Richard, Little Loewy, and Arlova and the ethics of revolution and government make him real. The repeated image of the less sun-damaged rectangles where the picture of the Old Guard had hung before they were renounced as traitors symbolizes the bleakness of dissent against autocracy more sharply than anything in Orwell’s literature. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of the 20th century or human nature.