Order of Book Series
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Arthur Koestler Books in Order

38 books are credited to Arthur Koestler, published between 1937 and 1984; 1 of them appeared after Arthur Koestler's death in 1983. The first book is Spanish Testament (1937) and the newest is Stranger on the Square (1984). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
38
Published
1937–1984
Pages on record
8,919 in 29 of 38 books
Reading time
149–223 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,919 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 29 of 38 titles with a page count on record.

See all 38 books in order Printable Arthur Koestler checklist
Photo of Arthur Koestler, author

Darkness at Noon (1940) is the anti-totalitarian novel that made Arthur Koestler's name outside his own languages. Koestler (1905-1983) was born in Budapest, educated largely in Austria, and worked as a journalist as well as a novelist. Communism runs through the life and the work: Koestler joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1931, resigned in 1938 over Stalinism, and moved to Britain in 1940. The 38 catalogued titles open with Spanish Testament (1937) and take in The Gladiators (1939), Scum of the Earth (1941), Arrival and Departure (1943) and Thieves in the Night (1946), across novels, memoirs, biographies and essays.

How many Arthur Koestler books are there?

Arthur Koestler has 38 books, released between 1937 and 1984. 1 of them were published after Arthur Koestler's death in 1983.

Arthur Koestler Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 38 Arthur Koestler books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Gladiators by Arthur Koestler (1939)
  2. Cover of Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (1940)
  3. Cover of Scum of the Earth by Arthur Koestler (1941)
  4. Cover of The Yogi and the Commissar and Other Essays by Arthur Koestler (1945)
  5. Cover of The God That Failed by Arthur Koestler (1949)
  6. Cover of Arrow in the Blue by Arthur Koestler (1952)
  7. Cover of The Trail of the Dinosaur by Arthur Koestler (1952)
  8. Cover of The Invisible Writing by Arthur Koestler (1954)
  9. Cover of The Lotus and the Robot by Arthur Koestler (1960)
  10. Cover of The Watershed by Arthur Koestler (1960)
  11. Cover of The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler (1964)
  12. Cover of The Ghost in the Machine by Arthur Koestler (1967)
  13. Cover of Drinkers of Infinity: Essays 1955-1967 by Arthur Koestler (1968)
  14. Cover of The Case of the Midwife Toad by Arthur Koestler (1971)
  15. Cover of The Call-Girls by Arthur Koestler (1972)
  16. Cover of The Roots of Coincidence by Arthur Koestler (1972)
  17. Cover of Beyond Reductionism by Arthur Koestler (1972)
  18. Cover of The Heel of Achilles; Essays 1968-1973 by Arthur Koestler (1974)
  19. Cover of Astride the Two Cultures by Arthur Koestler (1975)
  20. Cover of The Thirteenth Tribe by Arthur Koestler (1976)
  21. Cover of Janus: A Summing Up by Arthur Koestler (1978)
  22. Cover of Kaleidoscope by Arthur Koestler (1981)
  23. Cover of Stranger on the Square by Arthur Koestler (1984)
  1. 1
    Spanish Testament1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Gladiators1939 · 319 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1939319
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Darkness at Noon1940 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1940224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Scum of the Earth1941 · 253 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1941253
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Dialogue with Death1942 · confirmed 1/4
    1942–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Arrival and Departure1943 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1943192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Twilight Bar1945 · confirmed 1/4
    1945–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Yogi and the Commissar and Other Essays1945 · 232 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1945232
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Thieves in the Night1946 · confirmed 1/4
    1946–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Promise and Fulfilment: Palestine 1917-19491949 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1949352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The God That Failed1949 · 273 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1949273
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Insight and Outlook1949 · confirmed 1/4
    1949–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Age of Longing1951 · confirmed 1/4
    1951–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Arrow in the Blue1952 · 416 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Trail of the Dinosaur1952 · 296 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Invisible Writing1954 · 528 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1954528
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Reflections on Hanging1956 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Sleepwalkers1959 · 623 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1959623
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Lotus and the Robot1960 · 296 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Watershed1960 · 280 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Hanged by the Neck1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Suicide of a Nation1963 · 253 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963253
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Act of Creation1964 · 752 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1964752
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Ghost in the Machine1967 · 384 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1967384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Drinkers of Infinity: Essays 1955-19671968 · 291 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968291
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Case of the Midwife Toad1971 · 187 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1971187
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Call-Girls1972 · 173 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972173
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Roots of Coincidence1972 · 158 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Beyond Reductionism1972 · 438 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972438
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Lion and the Ostrich1973 · 13 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197313
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  31. 31
    The Heel of Achilles; Essays 1968-19731974 · 273 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1974273
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  32. 32
    Astride the Two Cultures1975 · 219 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1975219
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  33. 33
    The Thirteenth Tribe1976 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  34. 34
    Twentieth Century Views1977 · confirmed 1/4
    1977–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  35. 35
    Janus: A Summing Up1978 · 354 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978354
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  36. 36
    Kaleidoscope1981 · 386 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981386
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  37. 37
    Bricks to Babel1982 · confirmed 1/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  38. 38
    Stranger on the Square1984 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Arthur Koestler books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

38 books

38 Arthur Koestler titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Arthur Koestler books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 38 Arthur Koestler books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Arthur Koestler

Start with Spanish Testament (1937), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Arthur Koestler book?

Stranger on the Square (1984) is the newest Arthur Koestler book released so far.

Is there a new Arthur Koestler book coming?

No next Arthur Koestler book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Arthur Koestler at a glance

Died
Arthur Koestler died in 1983, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Arthur Koestler are still being published after Arthur Koestler's death in 1983; the newest appeared in 1984.
Release pace
Arthur Koestler books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
8,919 pages across the 29 of 38 books with a recorded length, a median of 273 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Arthur Koestler books, 10 of 38, were published in the 1970s.

What the Arthur Koestler books are about

26 of the 38 Arthur Koestler books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 5 of 26. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.