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“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.
"[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.
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“I picked up The Premonitions Bureau by Sam Knight in a rush at the airport, mistakenly assuming it was a work of science fiction. It wasn’t until I came across the reproduced newspaper clippings and articles within that I realized this was non-fiction, though the surreal nature of its subject matter made it feel otherworldly throughout.
The book recounts the extraordinary true story of Dr. John Barker, a British psychiatrist who, in the wake of the Aberfan disaster of 1966, decided to investigate whether people could foresee catastrophic events. He established the Premonitions Bureau, a repository for the public to report their premonitions, aiming to predict (and possibly prevent) future disasters. Knight pulls readers into this peculiar moment in history, recounting vivid and eerie premonitions that seemed to align with real-world tragedies, such as Robert Kennedy’s assassination and a plane crash in Cyprus.
Reading this book felt almost like stepping into an alternate reality, where coincidence and supernatural possibility overlap. The “seers” who contributed to the Bureau, and the chilling accuracy of some premonitions. Knight balances skepticism and curiosity, never pushing to believe or dismiss outright. What struck me most was how he captured the humanity of everyone involved. Barker, obsessed with the idea of saving lives through premonitions, seemed haunted by his own doubts and ambitions. The seers, ordinary individuals, struggled with the weight of their predictions and whether sharing them mattered. This exploration of human vulnerability gave the narrative a surprising emotional depth.
At its heart, the book invites readers to question the limits of human perception. Are premonitions just statistical anomalies, or is there something deeper at work? The surreal experience of reading this; half-believing I was in a sci-fi novel, only underscores the mystery at the core of the story. While some may argue that the book meanders at times, I found this reflective quality fitting. It mirrors the way we grapple with the inexplicable, seeking meaning even when the answers remain elusive. For anyone fascinated by the intersections of science, psychology, and the supernatural, I would definitely recommend”Start a Book Club
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