Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the Cia, and the Tragedy of Mkultra

Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the Cia, and the Tragedy of MkultraThe inside story of the CIA's secret mind control project, MKULTRA, using never before seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves. Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA's most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous even deadly experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind bending drugs, torturing mental patients through sensory deprivation, and steering the movements of animals via

The inside story of the CIA's secret mind control project, MKULTRA, using never-before-seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves.

Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA's most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous--even deadly--experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind-bending drugs, torturing mental patients through sensory deprivation, and steering the movements of animals via electrodes implanted into their brains. His goal was to develop methods of mind control that could turn someone into a real-life "Manchurian candidate."

In conjunction with MKULTRA, Gottlieb also plotted the assassination of foreign leaders and created spy gear for undercover agents. The details of his career, however, have long been shrouded in mystery. Upon retiring from the CIA in 1973, he tossed his files into an incinerator. As a result, much of what happened under MKULTRA was thought to be lost--until now.

Historian John Lisle has uncovered dozens of depositions containing new information about MKULTRA, straight from the mouths of its perpetrators. For the first time, Gottlieb and his underlings divulge what they did, why they did it, how they got away with it, and much more. Additionally, Lisle highlights the dramatic story of MKULTRA's victims, from their terrible treatment to their dogged pursuit of justice.

The consequences of MKULTRA still reverberate throughout American society. Project Mind Control is the definitive account of this most disturbing of chapters in CIA history.

Author: John Lisle
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 05/20/2025
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.41w x 0.86d
ISBN: 9781250338747


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/10/2025
Booklist 04/01/2025 pg. 6

About the Author
JOHN LISLE has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas, where he is now a professor of the history of science. His first book, The Dirty Tricks Department, tells the story of the scientists who developed secret weapons, documents, and disguises for the OSS during World War II. He has received research and writing awards from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Institute of Physics, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His work has been published in Skeptic, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, and elsewhere