Part of the Casswiki article series Books
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation by psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, first published in 1966, is a classic in the annals of reincarnation research.
The book focuses on twenty cases with children investigated by the author: seven cases in India, three cases in Ceylon, two cases in Brazil, seven cases among Tlingit Indians of Southeastern Alaska, and one case in Lebanon.
The author follows the classical scientific approach to the study of reincarnation in this book where he dismisses any case that has a single or more reasonable explanation other than reincarnation and takes his remaining list to be analyzed objectively and rigorously. He concludes that reincarnation was the “best possible explanation” due to a large number of witnesses and the lack of motivation or opportunity, a large amount of information given by the children not found within their families, demonstration of similar personality characteristics and skills not learned in the current life, and evidence of birthmarks shown on children being related to the individuals of the past.