Breen presents a tantalizing hypothetical, one that would have had an inestimable impact on culture, medicine and perhaps the whole of civilization had it come to pass: What if, in the mid-1950s, Margaret Mead had publicly endorsed psychedelics? ... Convincing ... Exhaustively researched; Mead alone was dauntingly prolific, and the book’s ambitious scope extends well beyond her abundant archive ... Breen is an engaging writer invigorated by his topic, and to synthesize so much information is an accomplishment.
Breen handles his complex and frequently bizarre material with skill and sobriety. He marshals a convincing mass of circumstantial evidence as well as documentary fragments that survived the destruction of MK-Ultra records.
Breen blends fleet-footed biography with an accessible analysis of mid-20th-century research into 'psychedelic' experiences ... Breen artfully weaves Mead’s biography with fascinating details of the sprawling psychedelics scene (producers of the TV show Flipper took acid). The result is a riveting exploration of a shadowy episode in 20th-century history.
