'' Arrival and Departure '' ( 1943 ) is the third novel of Arthur Koestler 's trilogy concerning the conflict between morality and expedience ( as described in the postscript to the novel 's 1966 Danube Edition ) . The first volume , '' The Gladiators '' , is about the subversion of the Spartacus revolt , and the second , '' Darkness at Noon '' , is the celebrated novel about the Soviet Show trials . '' Arrival and Departure '' was Koestler 's first full-length work in English , '' The Gladiators '' and '' Darkness at Noon '' were originally written in German . It is often considered to be the weakest of the three . Reviewing the novel in December 1943 George Orwell called it notable " for what must be one of the most shocking descriptions of Nazi terrorism that have ever been written . " Written during the middle of World War II , '' Arrival and Departure '' reflects Koestler 's own plight as a Hungarian refugee . Like Koestler , the main character is a former member of the Communist party . He escapes to ' Neutralia ' , a neutral country based on Portugal , where Koestler himself had gone , and flees from there . ( Stephen Spender had supposedly said of Neutralia , " Names like that should not be allowed in novels ! " ) Reflecting Koestler 's later life relationship with science , and particularly his disagreement with various movements within psychiatry , the main character emerges from treatment psychically neutered , and the critical question of the novel is how much of his later trauma and political activity is due to a small incident in his childhood
Show trials
Great Purge
Arrival and Departure