On every page of this book there are stories to challenge credulity and imagination. Tales of ghosts and poltergeists, of dowsers who can find oilwells with a pendulum or a twig, men who can walk on fire, women who bleed with the wounds of Christ, mediums who claim to conjure up the spirits of the dead, visions of the future tragically fulfilled, and children who say they have lived before. The fascination of the supernatural is easy to explain, the truth is more difficult to find. John Fairley and Simon Welfare have pursued the quest in authoritative yet entertaining style, gathering eyewitness accounts throughout the world, and consulting the scientists, doctors and psychiatrists who have investigated some of the strangest stories ever told. Arthur C. Clarke, scientist, best-selling author and connoisseur of the curious, contributes his own analysis of a subject which has fascinated him for half a century. His opinions are thoughtful yet provocative, and his wise and witty reactions to the validity of many of the claims for the paranormal are certain to prove both enlightening and controversial. 'At a generous assessment,' he says, 'approximately half this book is nonsense. Unfortunately, I don't know which half'.