Threshold

Terminal Lucidity and the Border of Life and Death

By: Alexander Batthyány

Narrated by: Eric Meyers

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Terminal lucidity is a relatively common but poorly understood phenomenon. Near the end of life, many people—including those who have suffered brain injuries or strokes, or have been silenced by mental illness or deep dementia—experience what seems a miraculous return. They regain their clarity and energy, are able to talk with families and caregivers, recall their lives and often appear to be aware of their nearing death.

In this remarkable audiobook, cognitive scientist and Director of the Viktor Frankl Institute Dr. Alexander Batthyány offers the first major account of terminal lucidity, utilizing hundreds of case studies and his research in the related field of near-death studies to explore the mind, the body, the nature of consciousness, and what the living can learn from those who are crossing the border from life to death.

Astonishing, authoritative, and deeply moving, Threshold opens a doorway into one of life's—and death's—most provocative mysteries.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press Essentials.

©2023 Alexander Batthyány (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Captivating... This engaging examination of consciousness in the borderland between life and death explores our sense of self, how our identities are tied to our bodies, and what happens when those links are severed. Threshold is guaranteed to challenge your concepts of who you are.”—Bruce Greyson, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, and author of After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond

"Remarkable...[Threshold] has spectacular, shattering, and life-changing implications and consequences."—Peter Kreeft, PhD, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, author of Love Is Stronger Than Death, Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing, and Everything You Wanted to Know About Heaven

“This is a terrific book. Dr. Batthyany has created an enlightening examination of the phenomenon that is very familiar to those who care for the terminally ill and their families. Threshold should have a positive effect on the care of the terminally ill.” --Dr. Raymond Moody, author of Life After Life

Treatise on Awesome Phenomenon

MUST LISTEN IF YOU HAVE EVER LOST A LOVED ONE

My mother with VERY advanced dementia passed away last year. I got the "broken hip" call and I knew it was time. Shockingly, while in ICU, my mother woke up. She was absolutely lucid and after two years of not knowing who I was, she remembered me, asked about my son, made jokes...she talked to all of her children the same way, remembering us all. She was her old self all day long. Then, she kissed her husband of 26 years, told him she loved him and then told him not to come back to the hospital tomorrow.

She died the following morning.


That experience was the greatest gift I have ever received. This book is well written and confirms what I knew in my soul. This is NOT a rare phenomenon.

The narrator did a great job and I found this book to be a very fair investigation into the topic.