This approach addresses a possible objection to some of Stevenson's previous work, reported from foreign cultures such as India, where many people already have a world-view inclusive of reincarnation.

[6][7] The book describes behaviors or statements made by individuals, most frequently during childhood, that would be completely foreign to their upbringing or genetic factors.

For example, David Llewellyn, born in England in 1970, possessed a significant knowledge of Jewish religious and dietary customs and also experienced nightmares and phobias with themes of concentration camps.

[8] However, in the final chapter of the book Stevenson concludes that "European cases of children who seem to remember a previous life clearly do not provide the strongest evidence of reincarnation that we have".

[9] A review in the American Journal of Psychiatry described the book as providing "an inspiring example of application of a painstaking protocol to sift facts from fancy".