G.I. Gurdjieff: The War Against Sleep

Colin Wilson

Feb 2019 · Aeon Books

About this ebook

Presents the life and work of one of the most influential psychological theorists of modern times, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. This examination of a psychologist and teacher of genius also provides an introduction to the philosophy of Gurdjieff. This work presents the life and work of one of the most influential psychological theorists of modern times. George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff is one of the most enigmatic figures of our time. He attracted legends as easily as disciples. But behind the Gurdjieff myth lies a solid corpus of thought, the importance of which is only now being generally recognized. At its heart was the idea of 'the war against sleep', the fact that man, in Colin Wilson's words, is like 'a grandfather clock driven by a watch-spring'. This brilliant and much praised examination of a psychologist and teacher of genius has established itself as the most important and accessible account for the general reader of Gurdjieff's life and work. This edition has been revised and expanded, providing the definitive introduction to the philosophy of Gurdjieff.

About the author

Colin Wilson was born in the East Midlands city of Leicester in 1931. After the phenomenal success of his first book The Outsider in 1956, he moved to Cornwall where he pursued a successful career as a writer, producing over 150 titles in fifty-five years. Essentially an existential philosopher, he has also written on crime, psychology, sex, the occult, literature, music, unexplained phenomena, history, pre-history, and over twenty novels in various genres. He died in December 2013.