The Trail of the Dinosaur contains some of Koestler's best-known political essays and speeches from the early Cold War period between 1946 and 1955. At that time the West was on the defensive and the majority of its progressive intellectuals were still turning a benevolently blind eye to Soviet foreign policy and the facts of life behind the Iron Curtain. Reflections on Hanging started as a pamphlet, but grew into a book, as Koestler became more and more fascinated - and horrified - by the historical, psychological and philosophical background and implications of the death penalty in general, and its theory and practice in England.