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eveeikon's review
5.0
incredible book. i learned so much. really interesting discussion of how lsd was used not only by the cia, but also the various groups in the new left and how different people had different views on how it should be used politically or not. moral of the story: if you want to overthrow the government, don’t do drugs
totally_different_head's review
4.0
The first half of the book on LSD pre-1967 was super interesting in chronicaling the drug's history and the different characters who came across it from the Swiss chemist's first trip on a bicycle ride, to Aldous Huxleys dying command, to the shadowy experiments of the CIA. Post 67 is a lot of history and info I already was aware of, well written but not too interesting to me. A great book for those interested in Psychedelics.
rosiehuz's review
4.0
I’ve spent eight months dipping in and out of this book and enjoyed nearly all of it. I think the long slow way I took it was in part down to just ‘having had enough’ of the shallow hedonism of the various 60s hippy groups even though the anecdotes about them are thoroughly entertaining. I regularly sent excerpts to friends as I sat aghast reading words about LSD laced doorknobs and so on.
A cracking tale of such an important phenomena, it seems timely to read as LSD research for psychotherapy is finally being done again in the UK.
A cracking tale of such an important phenomena, it seems timely to read as LSD research for psychotherapy is finally being done again in the UK.
mburnamfink's review
4.0
The subtitle of this book says "The complete social history of LSD: the CIA, the sixties, and beyond." In a nutshell, this is an entirely accurate summary. Lee and Shlain trace the strange journey of LSD from an experimental military chemical, to a psychiatric wonderdrug, to a driving forces of the 60s counter-culture, and possibly its demise. This book is more journalistic than academic, but it is deeply sourced and informed. The authors are pro-psychedelic but fully recognize the limits of chemical enlightenment, and how the flashbulb cosmic glow of LSD inspired a revolution that blossomed in the headlines but failed to hold the streets. The 60s were a trip, but all trips end. Especially those helped along by agent provocateurs of the CIA and FBI.
At least we can still dream of better world, some times.
At least we can still dream of better world, some times.
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