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sandman_1961's review against another edition
4.0
The title of this book and the blurb on the cover give great expectation of this book as a non-fiction story that delves into the role of premonitions in foreseeing disasters. The cover and the title are reminiscent of Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test and The Men Who Stare at Goats. I was expecting something along those lines (...book by its cover...).
I don't think that this is what the book turned out to be. The Premonitions Bureau doesn't feature highly. Maybe there just wasn't enough material to expand this idea any further.
However, what you do get is an interesting biography of John Barker, the psychiatrist at Shelton Hospital in the 1960's who initiated the Premonitions Bureau. Shelton hospital was a very large institution, bigger than most hospitals today, firmly rooted in the past at Barker's arrival. You get a narrative in terms of old fashioned methods of managing mental illness. You also get a commentary of John Barker's feelings about these outdated mental health practices and institutional settings of the old style 'asylums' that were set up in the 19th century and were still in place, largely unchanged, until the 1980's in some locations.
The Premonitions Bureau of the title was set up by John Barker and Peter Fairley, a reporter and science correspondent of the London Evening Standard. I remember Peter Fairley from my youth as the ITV science correspondent at the time of the Apollo missions.
The Bureau was set up following the Aberfan disaster in the 1960's following the discovery that several people had 'foreseen' the disaster. There really isn't much to write about the bureau itself. Most of the references are of numbers of premonitions being called in and documented, but very little information about the content of these disasters. I think the hit rate was around 3%. There is a small discussion on the nature of time and its possible relevance to premonitioons.
It is an engaging book. I enjoyed the biography and the historical perspective. If you are looking for something more focused then you are likely going to come away disappointed.
I don't think that this is what the book turned out to be. The Premonitions Bureau doesn't feature highly. Maybe there just wasn't enough material to expand this idea any further.
However, what you do get is an interesting biography of John Barker, the psychiatrist at Shelton Hospital in the 1960's who initiated the Premonitions Bureau. Shelton hospital was a very large institution, bigger than most hospitals today, firmly rooted in the past at Barker's arrival. You get a narrative in terms of old fashioned methods of managing mental illness. You also get a commentary of John Barker's feelings about these outdated mental health practices and institutional settings of the old style 'asylums' that were set up in the 19th century and were still in place, largely unchanged, until the 1980's in some locations.
The Premonitions Bureau of the title was set up by John Barker and Peter Fairley, a reporter and science correspondent of the London Evening Standard. I remember Peter Fairley from my youth as the ITV science correspondent at the time of the Apollo missions.
The Bureau was set up following the Aberfan disaster in the 1960's following the discovery that several people had 'foreseen' the disaster. There really isn't much to write about the bureau itself. Most of the references are of numbers of premonitions being called in and documented, but very little information about the content of these disasters. I think the hit rate was around 3%. There is a small discussion on the nature of time and its possible relevance to premonitioons.
It is an engaging book. I enjoyed the biography and the historical perspective. If you are looking for something more focused then you are likely going to come away disappointed.
florajb2068_hy's review
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
The subject of this book is the Paranormal. It's about how the brains predictions shape our world. It was eerie the tales of coincidences, and it certainly leaves you thinking about lifes strange happenings.
definestrange's review
challenging
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
mcfizzlekicks's review against another edition
2.0
Written as if someone had read some interesting stories whilst drunk and tried to retell them 6 weeks later.