LSD — The Wonder Child

Reveals the fi fties as the forgotten psychedelic decade. Hatsis brings to life the radical experiments of the famous and not so famous psychedelic pioneers. Impeccably researched, Hatsis nonetheless wears his scholarship lightly. Reading this is like tripping with your professor. An invaluable and eminently readable contribution to psychedelic history. * Andy Letcher, author of Shroom, lecturer, and musician * An original synthesis of rare information, precious anecdotes, and scientific adventure stories. A masterful storyteller, Thomas Hatsis is our knowledgeable guide on this insightfully written history of pharmacology's most notorious chemical agent. From hopeful research into LSD's therapeutic potential and the hidden potential of the human mind to its sacramental use and the dark mindcontrol experiments of the CIA, Hatsis provides a page-turning historical perspective on the origins of psychedelic culture and how we got to where we are today in the psychedelic renaissance. Highly recommended! * David Jay Brown, author of The New Science of Psychedelics and Dreaming Wide Awake * A highly readable history of how psychedelics filtered through the wards of hospitals and prisons; the U.S. military and the MKUltra program; Huautla de Jimenez and Hollywood; university laboratories and the fields of parapsychology, mysticism, and literature; and into the clinics of psychiatrists, setting the stage for psychedelics spilling onto the streets of America in the 1960s. * Michael James Winkelman, Ph.D., M.P.H., coeditor of Advances in Psychedelic Medicine * Tom Hatsis brings this story to life with vivid characters, mystical and scientific intrigue, and exciting exploits in this colorful history of psychedelic adventures. His passion for the topic comes to life in this page-turner of a book. * Erika Dyck, Ph.D., author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus * This wonderful book by Thomas Hastis is the most beautifully written, detailed, candid, personal, and informative text on the subject of Albert Hofmann's serendipitous stumbling. Get on the bus. Take that bike ride. Whatever. But make sure Tom's book is in your backpack. You'll be hard pressed to find a better guide for your trip. * Ben Sessa, MBBS (M.D.), MRCPsych, psychedelic therapist and chief medical officer at Awakn Life Scie * Foreword by Martin A. Lee Before I Forget . . . Again 1 Pharmacies of Fairyland Victorian Psychedelia 2 Mother's Grain A Brief History of the Ergot Fungus 3 A Peculiar Presentiment Birth of the Wonder Child 4 Delysid Seeking a Model Psychosis 5 The Great Lips An Intentional Approach to Set and Setting 6 Mind Fields Weaponizing LSD 7 Academic Espionage Lucy in Disguise with Doctors 8 Enlightened Operatives The Blood of Patriots 9 The World Where Everything Is Known Maria Sabina's Gift 10 Voices from Behind the Veil ESP and LSD 11 To Soar Angelic Birth of the Psychedelic Renaissance 12 The Vitalist Heretic Critics of Chemical Mysticism 13 Altar at the Center of the Universe Psychedelics as Sacred Medicine 14 Scoundrels and Explorers Eternity in an Hour 15 Something Different than Madness Hollywood, Popular Media, and LSD 16 The Madonna and the Gingerbread Man LSD, Psychotherapy, and Alcoholics Anonymous 17 An Intellectual, Fun Drug A Strange Fraternity 18 The Fall The Tragedy of Timothy Leary 19 A Far-Gone Conclusion Resurrecting the Renaissance Notes Bibliography Index