Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation is one of psychiatrist Ian Stevenson's best-known works and a landmark book in the study of reported past-life memories, reincarnation and psychical research.
Rather than relying on hypnotic past-life regression, Stevenson concentrated on cases in which young children spontaneously began speaking about what appeared to be memories of another life.
He then investigated the children's statements, interviewed family members and other witnesses, and looked for people and events that might correspond with the reported memories.
The title deliberately says "suggestive of reincarnation" rather than presenting reincarnation as proven fact. Stevenson documents the cases and examines possible explanations before discussing what conclusions, if any, might reasonably be drawn from them.
The book draws on cases from several different cultures and geographical regions, allowing Stevenson to compare similarities and differences across societies with very different beliefs about reincarnation.
The cases involve children who reportedly made statements about previous lives, people, places or circumstances that were then investigated.
A later section discusses the results of follow-up interviews, followed by Stevenson's broader discussion of the patterns and possible interpretations of the cases.
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation became one of the foundational books in the modern academic study of children reporting memories of previous lives.
A later historical review in the Journal of Scientific Exploration described it as a classic of twentieth-century parapsychology and noted that the twenty cases were selected from roughly 200 personally investigated by Stevenson to illustrate the variety of phenomena he encountered.
The book remains useful for readers interested in reincarnation research, anomalous cognition, consciousness studies, survival after death, psychology and the history of parapsychology.
Ian Stevenson, M.D. (1918–2007) was a psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
He became chairman of UVA's Department of Psychiatry while still in his thirties and later founded what became the University's Division of Perceptual Studies.
Stevenson spent more than four decades studying unusual human experiences, particularly cases in which young children appeared to remember previous lives.
His work also extended into areas including near-death experiences, apparitions, survival research, birthmarks associated with claimed previous lives and xenoglossy.
Other well-known books by Stevenson include Children Who Remember Previous Lives, Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect, Reincarnation and Biology and Unlearned Language.
Research into children's reported previous-life memories continued at the University of Virginia after Stevenson's retirement and death.
The University's Division of Perceptual Studies continues to list Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation among its recommended books on reincarnation research.
Later researchers associated with this field include Jim B. Tucker, whose work has continued the study of children who report memories of previous lives, including cases in the United States.
The book has also continued to be discussed by people interested in the modern scientific study of consciousness and survival after death.
Aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, founder of the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies (BICS), has publicly referred to Stevenson's Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation as a classic when discussing evidence connected with reincarnation.
Bigelow founded BICS to support research into the question of whether human consciousness survives bodily death.
In 2021 BICS ran a major essay competition examining evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. The first prize was awarded to Jeffrey Mishlove for his essay Beyond the Brain.
This later interest places Stevenson's work within the wider modern discussion surrounding consciousness, reincarnation, life after death and survival research.
This copy is the Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged.
The original version was first published in 1966 as Volume 26 of the Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research.
The revised second edition was copyrighted in 1974 by Ian Stevenson, and the first paperback edition was published in 1980 by the University Press of Virginia.
This edition includes additional material and follow-up interviews relating to the cases.
| Title | Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation |
| Author | Ian Stevenson, M.D. |
| Edition | Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged |
| Paperback Edition | First published 1980 |
| Publisher | University Press of Virginia |
| Format | Paperback |
| Pages | 396 |
| ISBN | 9780813908724 |
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