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 - An entertaining psychedelic historyThis 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:  - Extensively Researched, Worth a ReadI found Acid Dreams quite by mistake, but it seemed interesting enough. And it is. Martin Lee, co-founder of FAIR magazine, presents his exhaustive research on LSD. Most interesting for me was the first half of the book, which deals extensively with US intelligence experimenting with LSD in various ways during the Cold War Era. Beyond that, this book follows acid through the psychedelic 60s, and into the 1980s. While Lee does a good job of tying in social information to add context, he does at times discuss things seemingly not related to the overall picture of LSD, and at others, goes into unnecessary detail on popular events such as Woodstock & Altamont, which we've all heard a million times. Still, it's a great book for anybody interested in drug culture, or who enjoys investigative/sociological reading. Rating: - Somebody was THERELet 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. Rating: - It sure took me on a trip!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: - An acid book? Yes, and a great history book as well..How do you go from marijuana and acid to the story of the American Left in the 60s? You don't really have to "go". Illegal drugs (a painful and tragic mistake of american and worldwide politics) are totally interwoven with the 60s. Naturally, you might say... True, but what you might not be aware of is the CIA's involvement with acid as they experimented with the drug for military reasons ( making victims out of 100s of unwitting Americans, especially prisoners) and how acid "escaped" the lab and spilled onto the streets. This book is definately NOT only the history of acid or another book that exposes the CIA's dirty tricks in recent times but what it is essentially is a great history book. Stunningly researched (the bibliography alone is a treasure) and convincingly opined "Acid Dreams" is an accurate account of an era that has been a mystery to some and a landmark for others. I have not read a more comprehensive book about the 60s than this one, one that helped me fill many voids i had about what exactly happened during that time and more importantly why it happened. Mind you, there are no myths in it either. Just hardcore reality even if in this case reality borders a mind space trip. All the key "characters" parade through it. Government agents, acid gurus, left wing militants and leftist leaders and scapegoats, the Black Panthers, the Right wing establishment, the rest of the 3-letter agencies, the international "circuit", the whole lot. You go on a trip around the world, then one around your mind and then you'll be declared honorary citizen of the place called the "Score". There couldn't possibly be enough i could say about this book to praise it, it's easily among the very best books I ever read with regard to the insights it offers on a topic that has been very much distorted by the corporate media and by the amateur historians used for that purpose. Wow.
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