Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. The authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War. What follows is one of the more bizarre episodes in the covert history of U.S. intelligence as the search for a “truth drug” began to resemble a James Bond scenario in which agents spied on drug-addicted prostitutes through two-way mirrors and countless unwitting citizens received acid with sometimes tragic results. In Acid Dreams, Lee and Bruce Shalin have written the history of a time still only dimly understood. The events they recount and the facts they uncover supply an important missing piece of the puzzle of a crucial decade in our recent past.
Critical Praise for Acid Dreams
- “My congratulations and admiration for your important work.”—Dr. Albert Hofmann
- “Engaging throughout…at once entertaining and disturbing.”—Andrew Weil in The Nation
- “An engrossing account of a period…when a tiny psychoactive molecule affected almost every aspect of Western life.”—William S. Burroughs
- “A landmark contribution to the sociopolitical history of the U.S…. Some of the liveliest, most absorbing, best-documented historical analysis to appear in recent years…. A seminal contribution to understanding America’s most turbulent modern decade.”—Choice
- “Riveting…. thought-provoking…. a wealth of historical, sociological, and political information.”—American Journal of Psychiatry
- “A thriller about the great mystery of how we of a certain generation got to be who we are.”—Andrei Codrescu (from the Introduction to Acid Dreams)
- “A generalist’s history that should replace all others.” —San Francisco Chronicle
- “This funny and irreverent book brings it all back.”—Washington Post
- “As splendidly written as it is fascinating…. A remarkable history of an unforgettable time.”—Oakland Tribune
- “Highly readable.… Filled with entertaining and bizarre episodes.”—Detroit Free Press
- “Astonishing behind-the-scenes discoveries…. a trip back I didn’t want to end.”—L.A. Weekly