《失敗瞭的神》所收集的都是過去曾是共産黨員的論文，包括瞭法國的安德魯•紀德（ANDRE GIDE），匈牙利的亞瑟•柯斯勒）ARTHUR KOESTLER《正午的黑暗》作者），英國詩人斯蒂芬•史賓德（STEPHEN SPENDER），意大利劇作傢依納齊奧•西隆尼（IGNAZIO SILONE），理查德•賴特（RICHARD WRIGHT），以及美國的鮑德溫和埃立遜。這些理想主義者都曾是共産黨員，不久都對蘇聯與斯大林的作為失望。《失敗瞭的神》齣版時曾引起世界各國文化思想界一陣震動。

The God That Failed is a classic work and crucial document of the Cold War that brings together essays by six of the most important writers of the twentieth century on their conversion to and subsequent disillusionment with communism. In describing their own experiences, the authors illustrate the fate of leftism around the world. Andre Gide (France), Richard Wright (the United States), Ignazio Silone (Italy), Stephen Spender (England), Arthur Koestler (Germany), and Louis Fischer, an American foreign correspondent, all tell how their search for the betterment of humanity led them to communism, and the personal agony and revulsion which then caused them to reject it. David Engerman's new foreword to this central work of our time recounts the tumultuous events of the era, providing essential background. It also describes the book's origins and impact, the influence of communism in American intellectual life, and how the events described in The God That Failed continue to affect public discourse today.