Scum of the Earth

By Arthur Koestler

At the beginning of the Second World War, Koestler was living in the south of France working on Darkness at Noon. After retreating to Paris he was imprisoned by the French as an undesirable alien even though he had been a respected crusader against fascism. Only luck and his passionate energy allowed him to escape the fate of many of the innocent refugees, who were handed over to the Nazis for torture and often execution. Scum of the Earth is more than the story of Koestler's survival. His shrewd observation of the collapse of French determination to resist during the summer of 1940 is an illustration of what happens when a nation loses its honour and its pride.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eland Publishing
• Release date: May 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781906011918

Arthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) was a Hungarian-British author and journalist who immersed himself in the major ideological and social conflicts of his time. In 1931 Koestler joined the Communist Party of Germany until, disillusioned by Stalinism, he resigned in 1938. In 1940 he published his novel Darkness at Noon, an anti-totalitarian work that gained him international fame. Over the course of his life, Koestler espoused many political causes. His novels, reportage, autobiographical works, and political and cultural writings established him as an important commentator on the dilemmas of the twentieth century.

Reviews for Scum of the Earth

[robertg69_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story about being a foreign resident of France in 1939-40, who was arrested twice and then incarcerated in the infamous Le Vernet internment camp just before the German Nazis took control of it in 1940. Grim details about living in miserable conditions, surviving and getting out of the camp. Also about escaping from France ahead of the German Nazis and finally explaining how veterans of the Spanish Republican Army were mistreated by the French police and then scooped up by the Nazis and delivered to German concentration camps.