{"product_id":"the-premonitions-bureau-a-true-account-of-death-foretold-9781984879592","title":"The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Stunning... An enveloping, unsettling book, gorgeously written and profound.\"\u003c\/b\u003e --\u003cb\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eSay Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a rising star \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e 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\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn 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 \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e newspaper, to collect dreams and forebodings from the public, in the hope of preventing future calamities. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMiddleton 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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\u003ci\u003e. The Premonitions Bureau\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/03\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781984879592\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.72d","brand":"Sam Knight","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41840052633781,"sku":"9781984879592","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_4093ac52-ecbe-4c49-860a-b1357fa653ac.jpg?v=1646731282","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-premonitions-bureau-a-true-account-of-death-foretold-9781984879592","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}