What surprised me about Koestler's depiction of Stalin's purges in the 30's was the lack of brutality. I expected the story to be more harrowing - the details of the interrogations, physical and psychological torture, etc. But the moving part of the story is Rubashov and his attempts to justify his actions to himself. He knows that he is powerless against the machinery of the state. What is left is to preserve a belief in himself and the ideals so many died for.

Believe it or not, I found some of the interrogator Gletkin's arguments persuasive. His depiction of the Russian peasants and their inability to function in an industrial state seems accurate from reading Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoevsky. This does not justify the cruelty of the Great Terror and the forced famines of the 30's. . . rather, the counterargument should be that "progress" cannot be forced or made by decree - that the culture must be given time to adapt. This is a lesson that could surely inform the US's policies in the Middle East. ( )

"The characters in this book are ficticious.The historical circumstances which determined their actions are real.The life of
the man, N.S. Rubashov is a synthesis the lives of a number of men who were the victims of the so-called Moscow Trials.
Several of them were personally known to the author. This book is dedicated to their memory."

Paris October,1938 --April, 1940

RUSBASHOV, miembro de la vieja guardia bolchevique y héroe de la Revolución Soviética, ha sido encarcelado acusado de traición al gobiernode Moscú. Es incitado a autoinculparse de una serie de delitos y traiciones que no ha cometido, pero termina por confesar a fin de salvar la Revolución. Esta obra cumbre de la literatura política nos ofrece un testimonio excepcional de la angustia que sufrieron cientos de antiguos miembros del Partido que desaparecieron, fueron encarcelados y juzgados o llegaron a autoinmolarse para salvarlo.

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Natt klockan tolv på dagen anses vara en av de mest inflytelserika skildringarna av Stalintiden. Den utkom för första gången i svensk översättning 1941
Romanens huvudperson är kommunisten Rubasjov, som åtalas i något som påminner om Moskvarättegångarna