I found “Acid Dreams; The Complete History Of LSD: The CIA, The Sixties, And Beyond” a pretty good summary of the LSD experience, from the use of the drug in interrogation techniques used by intelligence agencies, to the use of such drugs to destabilize the revolutionary youth movement.
At nearly 300 pages (my copy), it is merely a summary however. It should be supplemented with the books “CHAOS” and “Revolution’s End”, for instance. Perhaps even “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”,which I am reading now. These books paint a bigger picture of the events described in “Acid Dreams” (by Martin A. Lee & Bruce Shlain)
“Acid Dreams” does a pretty good job laying out the discovery, use and abuse of Acid. There was apparently quite a row between those early doctors/scientists who wanted to use the drug (and others) to destabilize the enemy during interrogation, and those who recognized acid as a powerful psychological tool.
Some of my favorite parts were the Feds, in disguise, sneaking away at training camps and getting high at taxpayer expense, and the description of Ken Kesey’s party in La Honda, California, that the Hell’s Angels attended: “Kesey told them, “You break people’s bones, I break people’s heads.” The Angels settled in for a good party and did not want to mess with Kesey.
However, the journey was fraught with lots of blunders and total miscalculations. Many of these are described, if slightly dated and not altogether correct. Hence, the necessity of further reading. (the book was first published in 1985).
Sample chapters include:
“In The Beginning There Was Madness”
“Psychedelic Pioneers”
“Under The Mushroom, Over The Rainbow”
“Preaching LSD”
“The All American trip”
“From Hip To Hippie”
-And more. My copy has a great introduction written by Andrei Codrescu.
The book goes a long way to show that “acid” can be a powerful tool in the right hands, an instrument of evil in others; (intelligence agencies).
I did enjoy the book, and recommend it. This book provides a very tight overview of the history of LSD, from accidental discovery to dismantling a revolution. I would balance it with the above listed books, and perhaps others, but this contains some real nuggets.
