Rating: 
Summary: It sure took me on a trip!
Review: Informative and captivating . . . I learned a great deal from this book such as the American government mind tests beginning in the 1950's. It shocked me and consequently mad me angry. The authors go into great detail about the several groups that sprang up during the 60's for whatever reason they had (authors explain this too), such the Merry Pranksters and the ... They also describe the scenes of Haight-Ashbury and the Human Be-In during the Summer of Love (1967). This book is not only about acid and who consumed it and why, but also about an era where alternative possibilities were explored and lived by. Part of the exploration was finding new values and consciousness, which of course led to experimenting with mind-altering substances. The authors do a great job of this, while at the same time the reader discovers that it wasn't just a bunch of hippies who tripped on acid. May the legacy of the 60's live on!
Rating:
Summary: A compelling expose of government misconduct.
Review: It's impossible to read the first part of this book without wondering whether there are any real differences between the National Socialist government in Germany during World War II and our own government. The real question is why there is so little outrage over all of this. The authors do a wonderful job of tracking the CIA's dangerous drug experiments conducted on unwitting civilians (and military officers). Couple this with the recent revelations about radiation experiments and it seems to be time for a revolution
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Summary: Outstanding political history of LSD
Review: Kleps may be a bit of a ranter, but his book Millbrook is really must reading for those interested in the history of the Millbrook scene, and you may find his unique perspective surprisingly refreshing. It's not fair to compare Acid Dreams to McKenna as he deals with the relationship of psychedelics to the evolution of human consciousness more than the social/political angle. Owsley had a few strange ideas (too much LSD?) and is now living at a location in Australia which he believes to be the only safe place to be during the coming whatever. Why so little outrage? That question is at least partially answered by the section on the politics of the bummer which, by simply extrapolating with the obvious revisions to other illegal drugs, can be regarded as a manual on obtaining public acquiescence for drug laws entailing human rights violations. Once widespread drug hysteria has set in, of course, it becomes difficult or impossible to objectively evaluate the behavior of the CIA or any other gov't department, civilian or military.
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Summary: Somebody was THERE
Review: Let me jump on the hype-this-book bandwagon...
Amazing! It's been said, "If you can remember the 60's you weren't there." Well, Lee and Shlain in _Acid Dreams_ not only take us back but provide an accurate, entertaining, and well-documented chronicle of government abuse of power and, once more, of the CIA's sinister involvement.
In these post-9-11 times when the current administration wants to unleash bureaucratic watchdogs on its citizens in the name of the "war on terror" this history book should alert us to what can happen when government agencies are set upon us unrestrained by checks and balances.
This history of "the CIA, LSD and the Sixites rebellion" is nothing less than a kaleidoscopic tour that not only names, but documents the outrageous actions of, the major players of the day from CIA Director Richard Helms to Timothy Leary to the messianic street alchemists who wished to bring instant enlightenment to the masses.
Whereas the CIA wished to conduct mind-control experiments on unsuspecting human guinea pigs, the underground rebels simply wished to expand minds.
Although many many infamous and not so infamous individuals are interwoven in this highly readable narrative from Dr. Albert Hoffman to Captain Alfred M. Hubbard to Abbie Hoffman to Charles Manson to Ken Kesey and Tim Scully the real characters are the CIA, LSD itself, and the Sixties! What a concept!
According to this richly documented and indexed (wow-the other reviewers are right-on;a hell of a reading list in its own right!) book, nothing of significance in the 60's was untouched for better or for worse by acid:The Free Speech Movement, the Vietnam war, campus demonstrations, the Nixon presidency, Ginsberg, Dylan, and the Beatles.
For instance, it's ghastly to read that Nixon seriously considered nuking North Vietnam but reconsidered due to the acid(?) energized youth that marched, protested, demonstrated, and risked violent police rioting to stop the war. Did LSD prevent another Hiroshima?
It's disgusting to read the elitist condescension by the very influential Clare Booth Luce (yes, of Time-Life) a tripper who believed acid should remain 'in the ruling class' and explained, "we wouldn't want everyone doing too much of a good thing."
It is, however, a pleasure and refreshing to read a book that debunks quite a few myths, distortions and outright lies about LSD spread by the government and other unscientific sources.
Only one other history book has excited me as much as _Acid Dreams_, William H. McNeill's slender volume _The Shape of European History._
Were it up to me I, too, would urge every single high school student to read _Acid Dreams_. It is a cautionary history that deserves to be not just read but preserved and remembered. I am 51, I think I was there, and the memory of some of the events still sends shivers down my spine.
Somebody was THERE, Martin A Lee and Bruce Shlain tell all, and _Acid Dreams_ eliminates page by page any excuses for historical amnesia.
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Summary: Amazing trip into the underside of LSD
Review: Somebody who read my review of "Writing on Drugs" recommended this book to me, and I am so glad that person did! This is an insightful, balanced look at the history of LSD, from its roots as chemical warfare for the CIA (and to think we're at war with Iraq in part because of their chemical weapons) to the psychedelic 1960s and beyond. We meet such fascinating people as Timothy Leary, Allen Gingsburg, and Ronald Stark, and see how the government and people with greed on their minds ruined what might have been an eye-opening drug. (Not that I recommend people take LSD--I do write for a substance abuse prevention program!) The book also raises questions about our drug policy--aat least up through the 1980s and how it affected people's use and interest in LSD, not to mention the kind of trips they took. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to know more about drug history, government conspiracies, and history of the 1960s in general.
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Summary: Comprehensive. Great reporting and refreshingly even-handed!
Review: Thankfully there are more level-headed souls around to chronicle these heady, swirling mythopoeic days than the curmudgeonly old troll of Aciddom, Art Kleps: The Chief Boo-hoo himself. (Read the review after this for classic Kleps ranting.)From someone who also lived with Leary-- through Millbrook, Berkeley and The Brotherhood (and makes his living lecturing, writing and consulting on the subject) Martin Lee's and Bruce Shlain's magnum opus is a must for anyone interested in what may prove to be one of the most exciting times in American history and human evolution. Sure there are minor discrepancies, but given the transcendent nature of the subject matter it's a wonder they got so much right. I find this book to be indispensable. In fact, I am so tired of borrowing and reborrowing it from the library. I am putting in my order right now!
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Summary: GROOVEN
Review: THIS BOOK HELPED ME TO BETTER UNDERSTAND MY OWN EXPIERIENCES WITH LSD. NOW I AM ENLIGHTENED!!!
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining psychedelic history
Review: This book is somewhat similar to _Storming Heaven_ by Jay Stevens in that it is an objective history of the psychedelic drug movement. However, the emphasis of this book is focused more on the dark side of these new drugs, and the diabolic experiments conducted by the U.S. government with mind-altering drugs. This discussion goes far beyond LSD, and extends to STP, Ditran, and the infamous BZ (AKA Jacob's Ladder), which the government used on soldiers to see if it might make them more effective fighters. Of course the results of the BZ experiments were disastrous; looking back on it would almost be funny if it weren't so darn tragic. Nonetheless, _Acid Dreams_ is a riveting and disturbing account of the CIA's misuse and misapplication of mind control drugs. The authors provide many amusing anecdotes regarding the CIA's activities, such as slipping acid in each other's morning coffee just to see how they react, and so on and so forth. Inevitably, some General or high-ranking official would have a bad trip, causing him to call for an end to such experiments. Overall, this book is an interesting and entertaining read, and I recommend it to fans of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining psychedelic history
Review: This book is somewhat similar to _Storming Heaven_ by Jay Stevens in that it is an objective history of the psychedelic drug movement. However, the emphasis of this book is focused more on the dark side of these new drugs, and the diabolic experiments conducted by the U.S. government with mind-altering drugs. This discussion goes far beyond LSD, and extends to STP, Ditran, and the infamous BZ (AKA Jacob's Ladder), which the government used on soldiers to see if it might make them more effective fighters. Of course the results of the BZ experiments were disastrous; looking back on it would almost be funny if it weren't so darn tragic. Nonetheless, _Acid Dreams_ is a riveting and disturbing account of the CIA's misuse and misapplication of mind control drugs. The authors provide many amusing anecdotes regarding the CIA's activities, such as slipping acid in each other's morning coffee just to see how they react, and so on and so forth. Inevitably, some General or high-ranking official would have a bad trip, causing him to call for an end to such experiments. Overall, this book is an interesting and entertaining read, and I recommend it to fans of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: A jnightmare the US can never live down.
Review: This book is the definitive source for the stupidity of the CIA and the US government for every using this horible stuff on any US service man or woman. It describes the horror of the damned lying awake all night searching the mind for that one little key that will unlock the psychic. I than the author for giving a little insight into what we went through because of this demon from hell. I am sixty-seven and I still remember the s.o.b. who gave me LSD in my orange juice after I fractured my neck. If authors such as this one had not told about these experiments we would have never known about men who killed themselves because of the horrors this drug released on those of us who offered to give our lives for our country, and instead we had our minds wrecked by something that did not benefit anyone. The US should have to release the results of experiments that caused men to lose their memory, their eyesight, and sometimes their lives. I remember the months at Bethesda that I searched for something to kill myself with.! Never again must a nation be allowed to do such a horrible thing to its military personnel. Luther Butler, 1310 Wildwood, Stephenville, Tx. 76401 lbutler@texinet.ne
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