Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control [Hardcover]

"* Acclaim for COCAINE: 'A definitive history' - The Sunday Times * 'A happy combination of page-turning pace and thought-provoking substance. An awesome survey' - Independent * 'Stick your hooter into this volume and you won't be able to stop until you've sniffed out all of its contents' - Time Out * 'Streatfeild has done a marvellous job...outstanding' - Irish Times"

'An extraordinary book'

'Fascinating, funny and brilliantly told.'

'Admirably researched and wonderfully astute... an addictive concoction of esoteric detail and serious debate.'

'[A] meticulously researched and superbly readable study'

'Marvellously engrossing. . . Streatfield's narrative control cannot be faulted.'

'Streatfield does an important service by bringing this curious phase to our attention again . . . Vivid'

What would it take to turn you into a suicide bomber? Do heavy metal LPs contain subliminal messages? What was MI6 doing with LSD in the 1950s? Does the Unification Church brainwash recruits? Is the Manchurian Candidate fact or fiction? Is it possible to erase memories, or to implant them artificially? How would you interrogate a member of Al Qaeda? With access to formerly classified documentation and interviewees from MI5, MI6, the CIA, the US Army and British Intelligence Corps, "Brainwash" traces the evolution of the world's most secret psychological procedure, from its origins in the Cold War to the height of today's war on terror.

Shortlisted for the 2007 Samuel Johnson Prize

With access to formerly decalssified documentation and interviewees from MI5, MI6, the CIA, the US Army and British Intelligence Corps, BRAINWASH traces the evolution of the world's most secret psychological procedure, form its origins in the Cold War to the height of today's war on terror.

Dominic Streatfeild is a writer and documentary maker who specialises in military and security issues. His television work includes BBC2's Exocet - detailing MI6 and the SAS's clandestine war for the Falkland Islands and exposing the real reasons for the loss of HMS Sheffield - and the Discovery Channel's series Age of Terror, examining the roots of political violence. Airing in over 100 countries, Age of Terror included interviews with members of 18 terrorist groups including FARC, the IRA, The Shining Path and Hezbollah. The series won a British Broadcast Award in 2003. He is the author of Cocaine, which The Sunday Times called 'a definitive history'.