| Title | : | Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0358646502 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780358646501 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 |
| Publication | : | Published April 9, 2024 |
Berlin 1945. Following the fall of the Third Reich, drug use—long kept under control by the Nazis’ strict anti-drug laws—is rampant throughout the city. Split into four sectors, Berlin's drug policies are being enforced under the individual jurisdictions of each allied power—the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the US. In the American zone, Arthur J. Giuliani of the nascent Federal Bureau of Narcotics is tasked with learning about the Nazis’ anti-drug laws and bringing home anything that might prove “useful” to the United States.
Five years later, Harvard professor Dr. Henry Beecher began work with the US government to uncover the research behind the Nazis psychedelics program. Begun as an attempt to find a “truth serum” and experiment with mind control, the Nazi study initially involved mescaline, but quickly expanded to include LSD. Originally created for medical purposes by Swiss pharmaceutical Sandoz, the Nazis coopted the drug for their mind control military research—research that, following the war, the US was desperate to acquire. This research birthed MKUltra, the CIA's notorious brainwashing and psychological torture program during the 1950s and 1960s, and ultimately shaped US drug policy regarding psychedelics for over half a century.
Based on extensive archival research on both sides of the Atlantic, Tripped is a wild, unconventional postwar history, a spiritual sequel to Norman Ohler’s New York Times bestseller Blitzed. Revealing the close relationship and hidden connections between the Nazis and the early days of drugs in America, Ohler shares how this secret history held back therapeutic research of psychedelic drugs for decades and eventually became part of the foundation of America’s War on Drugs.
Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age Reviews
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English:
Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age (to be published in 2024)
In the new book by the author of
Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany, Ohler tells the story of LSD: How it was first researched as a medication, then perceived as a promising substance by the the Nazis and the CIA to manipulate the minds of enemies, then as a means to free the mind by the hippies, and how it is now a stigmatized illegal drug. This guy just knows how to write a captivating non-fiction book, so it even becomes thrilling to hang out with him in the archives of a pharma company, plus there are some fun cameos by the likes of Elvis Presley,
Aldous Huxley,
William S. Burroughs, and, of course
Timothy Leary. Parts made me think of
Hamilton's Pharmacopeia.
An interesting book about the societal and historical forces that impact the destiny of drug research. You can hear us discuss the book (in German) on the podcast:
https://papierstaupodcast.de/allgemei... -
Enjoyed this look at the origins of LSD25 through its development and the aftermath of CIA involvement and stigma of the mind bending drug and its original plan of helping dementia and other conditions
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"IN THE LATE 1990S, INSIDE A FORMER NUCLEAR MISSILE silo in Kansas, Leonard Pickard set up what was probably the biggest LSD lab of all time. The choice of this site for such a large-scale operation seems symbolic, given that the history of the powerful substance is tightly interwoven with that of the Cold War and its arms race. On twenty-eight acres of land, behind electronically controlled gates and a hundred-ton steel door that could withstand even a nuclear attack, Pickard was alleged to have produced a kilogram of the drug per month—due to its potency, an unimaginably large amount. With it, the graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government was said to have provided 95 percent of the world’s supply of LSD..."
Tripped is my second from the author, after his 2015 book:
Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany, which I really enjoyed. So, I admittedly went into this one with high expectations. Unfortunately, I did not find the writing here to be quite on par with the writing in Blitzed.
Author
Norman Ohler is a German New York Times bestselling author, novelist and screenwriter, best known for this book, which has been published in over 30 languages.
Norman Ohler:
The writing here opens with a bang, as Ohler delivers a high-energy intro where he drops the quote above. He writes in a matter-of-fact, straight-forward manner here that shouldn't struggle to hold the finicky reader's attention.
Ohler describes the aim of the book in this short quote:
"...I myself became curious about the drug when my father, a retired judge, started to consider giving microdoses of LSD to my mother to treat her Alzheimer’s disease. He had asked me why, if the drug was actually supposed to help, he couldn’t just get it at the pharmacy. This launched me on my research.
The more I dug into the history, the more fascinated I became. I began to see how much of the early history of LSD was shaped by the shadow that lies over the molecule, a result of the personal connection between a Swiss pharmaceutical CEO named Arthur Stoll, a kind of unwilling forefather of psychedelics, and Richard Kuhn, the leading biochemist for the Third Reich. This relationship aided the National Socialists, who were beginning to study the use of psychedelics as potential “truth drugs”—questionable research, which, after the war, sparked the interest of the US military and its intelligence agencies in these substances.
This book is what emerged from my curiosity. In this moment when, after many decades, we are finally reconsidering the nature of our laws surrounding psychedelics, it feels more important than ever to look backward and understand how we arrived at those regulations in the first place."
As the book's subtitle implies, the author takes the reader through the history of psychedelic drug use in the West, and America; more specifically. The book also covers the roots of the modern Western drug prohibition movement, and the history of the "War on Drugs." The West adopted the Nazi's temperance movement, which was ultimately blowback from the
decadent and degenerate culture that emerged in
Weimar Germany post WW1.
The author continues, telling the reader about the discovery of early psychedelics and the synthesis of LSD. Although not mentioned here, the Americans became paranoid that the Russians had developed a mind control agent, after freed POWs from the Korean War were returning to America seemingly brainwashed. This had the Americans up in arms, and drove later efforts by CIA scientists to produce a mind-control agent of their own. This project became known as
Project MKUltra.
MKUltra was preceded by two drug-related experiments, Project Bluebird and Project Artichoke. It began in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964 and 1967, and was halted in 1973. It was organized through the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence and coordinated with the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. The program engaged in illegal activities, including the use of U.S. and Canadian citizens as unwitting test subjects. MKUltra's scope was broad, with activities carried out under the guise of research at more than 80 institutions, including colleges and universities, hospitals, prisons, and pharmaceutical companies. The CIA operated using front organizations, although some top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement.
Some more of what is covered in here includes:
• LSD in America
• The Case of Frank Olson
• Mösch-Rümms
• LSD JFK
• "The Revolt of the Guinea Pigs"
• "The Bear"
• Elvis Meets Nixon
• The author microdosing his mother to treat her Alzheimer's. (Some great info here)
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Tripped was a decent read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the author's first book in the series. I also felt that
John D. Marks book:
The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA & Mind Control already covered this topic in a more effective and engaging manner.
The book was still a decent read if you don't know this history.
3.5 stars. -
http://www.hyperebaaktiivne.ee/2024/0...
Norman Ohler "Kõige võimsam aine" käib autori kannul, kui too uurib psühhedeelsete ainete ajalugu, keskendudes lüsergiinhappe dietüülamiidile ehk LSD-le. Selle raamatuga on põnev lugu - nimelt sain kaasa lüüa sisu toimetamises keemia alal! Varem olen lugenud ja kiitnud sama autori raamatut "Patsient A", mis kõneleb Hitlerist ja tema lemmikutest uimastitest - metamfetamiin, opioidid, kokaiin.
1918-2022, Saksamaa, Šveits & USA. LSD juured ulatuvad Šveitsi, Sandoze värvivabrikusse, kus haisteti, et ravimiturul liiguvad suured rahad ning laiendati oma tootmist. Uute potentsiaalsete ainete otsing meenutab võidurelvastumist, kus osalevad nii looduse saladuste uurijad kui ka sünteetilisele keemiale tuginevad firmad. Sandozes oli valdkonna eestvedaja huviorbiidis tungaltera, teraviljadel parasiteeriv seen. Tal õnnestus selle toimeaine eraldada ning teedrajava ravimiga ettevõte võidukäigule viia. Kui konkurendid kümme aastat hiljem järele jõudsid, uuringud ühendiga jätkusid ning siis sünteesitigi lüsergiinhappe dietüülamiid, mille võimas toime avastati takka juhuslikult. Pea sada aastat hiljem asub Norman Ohler arhiivides tuulama, et saada selgust, miks LSD, mis taas potentsiaalse ravimina pead tõstab, kunagi turule ei jõudnud, vaid ära keelati. Vihje: siinkohal on tegu juba tõelise võidurelvastumisega.
"Kõige võimsam aine" haarab kaasa esimesest peatükist, kus lugu juhatatakse sisse II maailmasõjajärgse kaosega Berliinis, rääkides lähemalt uimastite lokkamisest ning ühtse keelupoliitika luhtumisest. Edasi läheb aina põnevamaks. Raamat näitab suurepäraselt, miks üldse erinevaid molekule uuritakse. Esimese motiivina ilmneb kasumiiha, aga kaugel pole ka soov inimesi uuenduslike ravimitega aidata. Siinkohal tulevad mängu pahaaimamatutele katsejänestele tundmatute ainete sissesöötmine ja valitsuste salaoperatsioonid. Ma isegi ei oska kommenteerida, milline osa raamatust kõige paeluvam oli, sest ühe aine ümber käis säärane trall.
Ohleri teeb huvitavaks veel see, kuidas ta keskendub ebatavalisele narratiivile. "Patsient A" vaatas Kolmandat Reichi läbi narkootikumide prisma, tekitades huvi ja jälestust. "Kõige võimsam aine" seevastu üllatab tõstes LSD pjedestaalile kui imeravimi, mida nõmedate seadustega luku taga hoitakse. Kirjanik annab seda motiivide ja põrkuvate huvide tihedat lugu väga ladusalt ning muhedalt edasi. Mulle meeldis tohutult tema isiklik mõõde. Nimelt kirjeldab mees minevikus toimunuga paralleelselt, kuhu uurimistöö teda kannab, nii et LSD-ni jõudmise kõrvale saab lugeda, kuidas kirjanik aine ajalugu avastab. Mis te arvate, kas lisaks teooriale jõuab ta ka praktiliste katseteni?
Kui sisutoimetamise kogemus lühidalt kokku võtta, siis pidin tublisti kammitsema oma lugemistempot, sest tavaliselt kipun loo sisse minema, nii et ei märkagi, mismoodi see kirja on pandud, kui just väga kriipiv tekst pole. Pilguheit kirjastamise telgitagustesse ning toimetamata raamatu lugemine oli igatahes äärmiselt põnev ettevõtmine. Erialaspetsiifiliste lausete lahti muukimiseks lihtsalt tõlke muutmisest kohati ei piisanud, vaid pidin paaris kohas saksakeelse algteksti kallale minema. Kõige raskem oli tegelikult hoopis see, et pakatasin peale lugemist faktidest ja mõtetest, mida tahtsin jagada ja arutada, aga polnud seda kellegagi teha. Jään põnevusega ootama, mille Norman Ohler järgmiseks luubi alla võtab!
Aitäh, Helios, raamatu ja ägeda võimaluse eest! -
I am a big fan of Ohler’s work with his examination of the use of meth in the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War in his book ‘Blitzed’ being a favourite of mine.
In ‘Tripped’, a sequel of sorts, he traces the origins and development of LSD in the decades after World War Two. Like with Operation Paperclip and the capture of Nazi physicists, the US were quick to seize Nazi biochemical scientists in a bid to create their own nefarious drugs experimentations; looking at how best to use them to manipulate potential enemy spies in a time of crippling anti-communist paranoia and how to possibly create what we would now deem a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ via Project MKULTRA.
The book is the result of Ohler’s personal interest in psychedelia, due in large part to his mother’s dementia and his efforts to investigate ways in which to combat this terrible condition. Tinged with emotion on those parts in which he discusses his mother’s condition, hope is visible … whilst we are perhaps still decades away from medicinal legalisation the signs are there that this mind bending drug could be a greater key then we perhaps had previously thought.
An interesting read here for sure! -
Dieses Buch erzählt u.a. davon, wie psychische Drogen schon früh als Waffe und Folterinstrument eingesetzt wurden - und warum die Nazis mit daran Schuld sind, dass die medizinische Karriere von LSD und Co. (als Hilfe z.B. bei psychischen Erkrankungen) in so schlechtem Licht gesehen wird. Wissenschaft gemischt mit Politik, das Ganze packend erz��hlt, ein echter Diskussionsstarter!
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast:
#286 -
Will do LSD now, thanks
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Some interesting history, but overall not too captivating in its storytelling. Perhaps a translator issue, but I found some of the sentence structures to be quite odd. Also, very little to do with Nazi Germany other than LSD being discovered in Germany in the early 1940s, so I felt that part of the title is a bit misleading.
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Norman Ohler's "Tripped" is a continuation of the work he started in Blitzed, following the history of drugs stemming from the actions of the Third Reich. This time, the drug in question is LSD and the country of origin is Switzerland. Ohler tracks the history of the drug, its uses by American intelligence, why its illegal today (hint - see the statement in the previous comma), and the benefits that could be right there, especially for the growing Alzheimer's population.
My thanks to NetGalley for this advanced copy. -
Hmmm... while it was interesting to read about the history and development of LSD with a focus on Sandoz rather than the typical CIA/Haight Asbury focus, this story really didn't include anything about Nazi Germany? I don't really understand why that was included in the title of the book because Germany is only mentioned very briefly while the CIA gets much more coverage.
Not a bad book, actually a pretty good quick intro into the history of LSD, but not at all what the title and cover promised. -
Before reading this book I knew shamefully little about the evolution of psychedelics. Looking back on it, I have no idea why I wasn’t curious about them from the start. The correlation between our history and drugs is shocking. From stars like John Lennon and Elvis Presley and their endeavors toward an “open mind” (some which were involuntary), to missteps in the CIA and their experiments on each other. This story is one every person needs to know, because our world would not be the same without it.
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How much better would the world be if it had never been for the CIA?
German journalist Norman Ohler follows up
Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany with a logical continuation: LSD. Synthesized from fungus in a Swiss pharmaceutical laboratory during the darkest days of WWII, the substance was poised to change the world. In addition to expanding the mind, trials were underway to treat psychosis and addiction. Just then, those jerks in Langley got wind of it. Rather than using acid for therapeutic or consciousness-expanding, they wanted to use it for mind control or as a truth serum. When that didn't pan out, it was time to declare war on drugs. But the genie was already out of the bottle at that point. Acid evangelists distributed it to thinkers, artists, and hippies, and soon the psychedelic age was under way. Only recently has LSD (and similar drugs) been used for research purposes to treat PTSD, depression, addiction, and anxiety. As we see in the epilogue, where Ohler chronicles his mother's experiences with microdosing to treat Alzheimer's, things are promising.
It's fascinating information, and Ohler has a gift for setting the scene. Unfortunately, the book is kind of light on content. Any psychonaut worth their salt probably knows most of what's already in the book (much of the territory I already read in the phenomenal
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD) A big portion of the first third of the book is about the author's experiences at the Sandoz corporate archives. (Save it for the notes, not the opening chapters!) And I would have liked to know what became of some of the characters in the story, such as the ex-Gestapo agent who was hired by Americans to enforce a war on drugs in postwar Berlin, or the patsy that the CIA put in charge of Project MK ULTRA. Still, as primer about the early days, lasting legacy, and bright future of Lysergic acid diethylamide, you could do a lot worse.
Note: I read an ARC, courtesy NetGalley. What I read may differ from the final product, which hits shelves next month. -
This is the story of LSD.
I never would have imagined that I would be so engrossed in a book about chemistry, pharmaceutical drugs, and the unfolding of corrupt government during the cold war era.
Norman Ohler has done a fascinating job of presenting information, facts, and history in a manner that does not "preach" at you (i.e. telling you what to think), but rather let's you come to conclusions on your own. There is no hand-holding, just an intelligent study of how drugs went from having some form of medical "purpose" and then morphing into a massive experiment.
This book is short, easy to read, yet will leave you feeling so much smarter. There is just so much food for thought. The ending about his mother was beautiful, and I truly hope there is a follow up of her condition.
Of all the Goodreads books I have won, this has, by far, been my (most unexpected) favorite! Thank you Goodreads for the free copy!
4.5 stars, rounding up to 5. The only reason I don't consider it a five star read is because the subject matter may not be of interest to many people, and the book was too short! -
Norman Ohler's Tripped is a lot of things. That's kind of the problem. It is part a look at the Nazis, LSD, the CIA, as well as a travelogue of Ohler's as he researches. Any one of these topics deserves its own book, but instead, all of these things are handled within about 190 pages. Ohler also has a epilogue which is one of the longer chapters about LSD and his mother's Alzheimer's battle.
Ohler's writing is good and I'd read a full length treatment of any of these ideas. As it currently stands, the book feels badly rushed and not fleshed out. If you love this subject, I am not sure how much new information you will get. If you don't know anything about LSD, this will leave you wanting more information.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher.) -
Absolutely wild. The author really did the research, basing this book on WW2 era white papers and experiment logs. Everyone knows there’s something not right about the end of WW2. The experiments and tech the Nazis were using. The fact that all their scientists came to America. The fact that 2 major reality altering shifts immediately happened. NASA and the space race, and the “Revolution” of drugs in culture. (And some would argue the formation of the CIA, FBI, NSA, were all even bigger in shaping our current world).
Maybe will write a better review later.
p.s. I read this earlier in the year, then months later saw the guy was featured on Joe Rogans podcast. I didn’t hear about this concept or author there, but it is actually a great interview that reminded me I read this. -
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for an eARC copy of Tripped by Norman Ohler.
First off, what really drew me to this book was the cover. It was different from other books speaking about the history of psychedelic's, especially how they surrounded the Third Reich in the 40's prior to the work that began in the United States in the 50's. Even thought I did not know Norman Ohler had a book prior to this, I now know that I really need to find and read it, as I feel like I missed a few things. But, he does a good job with speaking about LSD and Switzerland, leading into its usage within the United States government. -
A rather delightful, and short, book on the rise, fall and possible resurrection of LSD. As a child of the Sixties I took my fair share of street acid; clandestinely manufactured lysergic acid diethylamide was all we could get. I actually started having very pleasant associations at the periphery of my memory as I edged toward the end of the text. In fact I began thinking a microdose of LSD might be pleasant, but where to get one? In this country LSD is still a schedule 1 drug, ie no known medically acceptable use, like marijuana. Damned stupid country.
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Fantastic book!
Incredibly accessible and easy-to-read. It covers a whole range of facets related to the pharmaceutical industry before, during and after World War 2, the spurious relation between the CIA and Nazi experiments, MK-Ultra and many more.
If you enjoyed Blitzed, you will love this book for sure.
Only downside is that it is just shy of 200 pages. Although I respect a book that can present a wide range of information so compactly, I would've loved to keep on reading. But that speaks to the quality of the book 😉 -
Ohler strikes again!
Another excellent book threading together Albert Hoffman's discovery of LSD, nazi chemists eyeing it up as a truth serum, the USA acquiring many Nazi chemists after WWII, Harvard, MK Ultra, Timothy Leary and beyond into the birth of the psychedelic age.
Ironically, we could be much further along with our use of psychedelics to treat depression if it weren't for the CIA's use of LSD through MK Ultra. -
I learned so much about the origins of LSD that I had no idea about even having read Albert Hoffman’s book himself. What seem like government secrets are present in this book, spelling out the political climate of the time. Pharmaceuticals seem to always find their way into the establishment’s agenda.
P.S. Switzerland’s “neutrality” position is a myth. -
Terribly structured, lacking a cohesive storyline to keep you engaged. It is more scattered than my thoughts on a trip. Sadly that doesn't make a good read. There is simply nothing in here that makes it a page-turner. I wanted to give it the benefit-of-the-doubt, but I gave up in Chapter 3. Life is too short at my time too valuable to waste on a book with these glaring shortcomings.
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An interesting, if abbreviated, history of LSD’s weaponization, downfall, and recent comeback. I was disappointed with the brevity of some of the historical vignettes presented, there were interesting pieces that could have been fleshed out.
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LSD originated in 1943 by Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical company for medical use. The third reich corrupted LSD in their quest for a truth serum. In 1953 Doctor Olson died from ingesting LSD. It has been illegal for decades. Until Recently. Thankyou Goodreads for this free book.
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This is an important book that brings the history and stigma of LSD to light. I am hopeful that it will play a part in allowing scientists to continue their work developing treatments for dementia without unreasonable political interference from the failed “War on Drugs” of the Nixon-era.
