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Poisoner in Chief Paperback – November 10, 2020

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 941 ratings

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The bestselling author of All the Shah’s Men and The Brothers tells the astonishing story of the man who oversaw the CIA’s secret drug and mind-control experiments of the 1950s and ’60s.

The visionary chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s master magician and gentlehearted torturer―the agency’s “poisoner in chief.” As head of the MK-ULTRA mind control project, he directed brutal experiments at secret prisons on three continents. He made pills, powders, and potions that could kill or maim without a trace―including some intended for Fidel Castro and other foreign leaders. He paid prostitutes to lure clients to CIA-run bordellos, where they were secretly dosed with mind-altering drugs. His experiments spread LSD across the United States, making him a hidden godfather of the 1960s counterculture. For years he was the chief supplier of spy tools used by CIA officers around the world.

Stephen Kinzer, author of groundbreaking books about U.S. clandestine operations, draws on new documentary research and original interviews to bring to life one of the most powerful unknown Americans of the twentieth century. Gottlieb’s reckless experiments on “expendable” human subjects destroyed many lives, yet he considered himself deeply spiritual. He lived in a remote cabin without running water, meditated, and rose before dawn to milk his goats.

During his twenty-two years at the CIA, Gottlieb worked in the deepest secrecy. Only since his death has it become possible to piece together his astonishing career at the intersection of extreme science and covert action.
Poisoner in Chief reveals him as a clandestine conjurer on an epic scale.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of September 2019: Mention “mind control” and you’re bound to elicit visions of Rasputin, Svengali, or Mesmer, famous creeps said to hold almost preternatural powers of persuasion over less disciplined minds. But interest in deep, subliminal influence of others goes well beyond the salons and séances of would-be mystics. In the 1950s, Sidney Gottlieb was a mild-mannered government chemist who lived in a cabin in the woods of Virginia with his family, pursuing a rustic, spiritual existence without electricity or running water. But he also had a knack for bureaucracy that coexisted alongside patriotic zeal, which led him to the top of PROJECT MK-ULTRA, the CIA’s clandestine pursuit of drugs and techniques intended for mind-control and political assassination. He pioneered “black sites” in Europe and Asia, secret prisons where – with the help of the darkest minds that ran the camps of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan – he implemented his psyche-busting experiments, including torture and the administration of LSD. Almost unbelievably, MK-ULTRA was only part of his legacy, which includes the development of a 007-worthy poisoned cigar meant for Fidel Castro, and the expansion of his “truth serum” experiments to unwitting American agents (see also: Errol Morris’s documentary, Wormwood). It’s quite the C.V., one which earned him the sobriquets “Black Sorcerer,” “Dirty Trickster,” and now “Poisoner in Chief” –the forthright title of Stephen Kinzer’s mind-blowing biography. As the author of Overthrow and The Brothers, Kinzer is well versed in the investigation of shadowy domestic intelligence services, and Poisoner in Chief similarly draws from the well of posthumously declassified materials and original interviews to craft a meticulous mosaic of a complicated paradox of a man. Spy-lit is a burgeoning subgenre filled with many thrilling and eye-opening books, but Gottlieb’s story is a must-read for any espionage aficionado. —Jon Foro, Amazon Book Review

About the Author

Stephen Kinzer is the author of many books, including The True Flag, The Brothers, Overthrow, and All the Shah’s Men. An award-winning foreign correspondent, he served as the New York Times bureau chief in Nicaragua, Germany, and Turkey. He is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, and writes a world affairs column for the Boston Globe. He lives in Boston.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Griffin (November 10, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250762626
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250762627
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 1.05 x 8.15 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 941 ratings

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Stephen Kinzer
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Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. His articles and books have led the Washington Post to place him “among the best in popular foreign policy storytelling.”

Kinzer spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, most of it as a foreign correspondent. His foreign postings placed him at the center of historic events and, at times, in the line of fire. While covering world events, he has been shot at, jailed, beaten by police, tear-gassed and bombed from the air.

Today Kinzer is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. He writes a world affairs column for The Boston Globe.

Kinzer’s new book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and the Birth of American Empire, builds on his career watching the effects of American interventions around the world.

From 1983 to 1989, Kinzer was the Times bureau chief in Nicaragua. In that post he covered war and upheaval in Central America. He also wrote two books about the region. One of them, co-authored with Stephen Schlesinger, is Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala.” The other one, Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua, is a social and political portrait that The New Yorker called “impressive for the refinement of its writing and also the breadth of its subject matter.” In 1988 Columbia University awarded Kinzer its Maria Moors Cabot prize for outstanding coverage of Latin America.

From 1990 to 1996 Kinzer was posted in Germany. From his post as chief of the New York Times bureau in Berlin, he covered the emergence of post-Communist Europe, including wars in the former Yugoslavia.

In 1996 Kinzer was named chief of the newly opened New York Times bureau in Istanbul, Turkey. He spent four years there, traveling widely in Turkey and in the new nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus. After completing this assignment, Kinzer published Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds.

He has also worked in Africa, and written A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called this book “a fascinating account of a near-miracle unfolding before our very eyes.”

Kinzer’s last book was The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War. The novelist John le Carré called it “a secret history, enriched and calmly retold; a shocking account of the misuse of American corporate, political and media power; a shaming reflection on the moral manners of post imperial Europe; and an essential allegory for our own times.”

Kinzer’s previous book was Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future “Stephen Kinzer is a journalist of a certain cheeky fearlessness and exquisite timing,” the Huffington Post said in its review. “This book is a bold exercise in reimagining the United States’ big links in the Middle East.”

In 2006 Kinzer published Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. It recounts the 14 times the United States has overthrown foreign governments. Kinzer seeks to explain why these interventions were carried out and what their long-term effects have been. He is also the author of All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.” It tells how the CIA overthrew Iran’s nationalist government in 1953.

In 2009, Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, awarded Kinzer an honorary doctorate. The citation said that “those of us who have had the pleasure of hearing his lectures or talking to him informally will probably never see the world in the same way again.”

The University of Scranton awarded Kinzer an honorary doctorate in 2010. “Where there has been turmoil in the world and history has shifted, Stephen Kinzer has been there,” the citation said. “Neither bullets, bombs nor beating could dull his sharp determination to bring injustice and strife to light.”

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and well-written. They appreciate the thorough research and clear presentation of the facts. Many find the subject interesting and valuable historical documentation. However, opinions differ on the reader appeal - some find it riveting and eye-opening, while others feel it seems sensationalistic or like a novel.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

24 customers mention "Readability"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable. They praise the author's skill in weaving together information and making it an enjoyable experience despite the macabre subject matter.

"Very well written, great book...." Read more

"This is a fantastic book. It’s incredibly detailed (not for the weak I would say). If that’s what you’re looking for (like I was) it’s a great read." Read more

"This is a great read. A rollercoaster of emotions. Definably keeps your attention from cover to cover...." Read more

"...this book, while I purchased it for information, turned into an enjoyable experience despite the macabre subject matter...." Read more

22 customers mention "Writing style"17 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They find it well-researched, easy to read, and engaging. The narrative is backed by credible references.

"Very well written, great book...." Read more

"...A very good readable book. Read and learn." Read more

"Great writer...." Read more

"...I won’t point any fingers, but only say that I thought this book was poorly written, if well-researched." Read more

19 customers mention "Research quality"19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-researched, informative, and easy to follow. They appreciate the detailed account of recent history and clear explanations of the CIA's drug program.

"This is a fantastic book. It’s incredibly detailed (not for the weak I would say). If that’s what you’re looking for (like I was) it’s a great read." Read more

"Another scholarly work by Stephen Kinzer fleshing out some of the hidden and horrific U.S. history during the post World War II transformation from..." Read more

"...but only say that I thought this book was poorly written, if well-researched." Read more

"...Gottleib himself lived off grid. Fascinating, well-documented but sickening account of recent history, as far as we can learn from all the evidence..." Read more

17 customers mention "Interest"15 positive2 negative

Customers find the book interesting. They mention it's an interesting story from the annals of the C.I.A.'s covert operations, providing valuable historical documentation of his crimes. The book presents the story behind a man who caused enormous harm, and provides well-researched details on a dark part of our history.

"...Gottleib himself lived off grid. Fascinating, well-documented but sickening account of recent history, as far as we can learn from all the evidence..." Read more

"...He spoke well and the subject seemed interesting—and indeed it is, the saga of Sidney Gottlieb, who led the CIA experiment in mind control and did..." Read more

"Well written book on a very dark part of our history. Just finished it and have ordered Kinzer’s book on the Dulles brothers." Read more

"Excellent insight into MK ULTRA, its history, the CIA, and the masterminds behind it all. JUST BUY THE BOOK ALREADY!" Read more

5 customers mention "Reader appeal"2 positive3 negative

Customers have different views on the book's appeal. Some find it engaging and eye-opening, keeping them hooked until the end. Others feel it's sensationalistic and resembles a novel, rather than an expose of horrific abuse.

"I'm about a quarter of the way through the book. It seems pretty sensationalistic to me...." Read more

"I was surprised by the way this book kept me riveted to the last page...." Read more

"...The CIA, so very mysterious , to this day and unfathomable, and so lethal and mysterious ...." Read more

"Love this book. Everyone should read this eye-opening book about covert CIA operations, mind control using drugs and other “torture” used on..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2024
    Very well written, great book. However, towards the end for the where are they now parts, I was surprised there was no mention of the wild ex-cop that was helping in New York bringing in prostitutes. Was he not in any of those legal cases, as I was curious to know his fate as well as he was a key player in the story.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023
    This is a fantastic book. It’s incredibly detailed (not for the weak I would say). If that’s what you’re looking for (like I was) it’s a great read.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2020
    Another scholarly work by Stephen Kinzer fleshing out some of the hidden and horrific U.S. history during the post World War II transformation from a moralistic democracy into a national security state. Mr. Kinzer exposes the hidden inhumane activities that resembled the war crimes of our Axis enemies during the war.
    The OSS and its' CIA successor secretly rescued many of the Nazi and Japanese torturers and bioweapons experts from justice in order to serve our new twisted attempt at expanding their work. The unknown number of innocent victims that were deliberately misled and destroyed under Sidney Gottlieb's MK-ULTRA mind control and assassinations program, remains a secret. At least this book pulls open the curtain part of the way. The author explores the recklessly caused death of Fort Dietrick chemist, Frank Olson, who was deliberatively dosed with LSD without his knowledge, leading to an alleged suicide or possibly murder.
    There is a gap in the author's thin transition from the 1950s Eisenhower administration to the 1960s Kennedy administration. While JFK initially went along with the ill fated Bay of Pigs debacle and the early actions of Operation Mongoose, he changed. I doubt that he knew or would have approved of MK-ULTRA and he clearly was heading in a different direction on Cuba and USSR, than the actions of the 1950s cold warriors that he inherited in the CIA. So one might try to justify such tactics in the 1950s when President Eisenhower enthusiastically supported them, but by 1963, JFK'S Test Ban treaty and efforts at peace before his death, cannot be reconciled with a CIAs rogue torture and assassination program.
    Forgive my skepticism but I am not convinced that the program was abandoned simply because it was a total failure. What has been revealed about MK-ULTRA may have been abandoned because the abuses were leaking out and the leaks became threatening to the CIA. What we don't know about MK-ULTRA may have involved successes so sinister, they will never be willingly disclosed
    A challenge to the author. Use your world class research to tell the true history of the CIA's Operation Mockingbird, which was initiated during the same 1950s time period, but unlike MK-ULTRA, is alive and still in force today. Many of the CIA abuses the author has documented in this and other books, would not have been possible but for Mockingbird. That would be a book worth reading but perhaps difficult to publish.
    19 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2024
    This is the third book I've read written by Steven Kinzer and I loved it as much as the other two. There should be a reader warning that this book contains way more than an adult theme. In fact if one is American that loves his/her country and believes that Americans are above the German and Japanese death camps; well you will be shocked.

    I read The Brothers first followed by All the Shah's Men. One nagging question I've had is whether Eisenhower knew what's going on in his administration. The Poisoner In Chief settles that question for me. Having read about Ike, I just couldn't see his involvement. He railed about the Military Industrial Complex and also the evils of war. It seems he chose a more covert policy with lots of denials.

    The main protagonist is Sidney Gottlieb. I had never heard of him or MK-ULTRA before reading this book. It seems there are a few of my friends who have heard of MK-ULTRA were but I can't imagine they knew about the complexity of this group. I've usually dismissed this kind of information as coming from conspiracy theorists and perhaps that's why it's new news.

    Mr. Kinzer backs up his information with references and footnotes. He did this as well in the other two books I've read. The news is, we were and may still be, no better than the people we accused of horrendous tortures in Nazi Germany and Japan.

    The idea my country would do these things seems totally out of character. Yet, this 3rd book just goes further in shattering my ideals of God and Country. I realize times were different and being provoked to participates as the right thing to do if one is an American Patriot. Then on they marched.

    I guess sometimes it's not conspiracy if it's true.

    A very good readable book. Read and learn.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2024
    This is a great read. A rollercoaster of emotions. Definably keeps your attention from cover to cover. I'm looking forward to reading it again in the future.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • kayla Flinn
    5.0 out of 5 stars As advertised!
    Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2022
    As advertised
  • Gute Produkt.
    5.0 out of 5 stars The duality of man- An extreme example
    Reviewed in Germany on September 22, 2024
    Having stumbled upon MK-Ultra in the past I decided to buy this book after listening to a podcast in which Stephen Kinzer talks about this book. Obviously the granular research into how the Project came about and what were it’s precursors has to be applauded. What I liked even more is the insight into Gottliebs life from many different perspectives. On the one side Gottlieb as the poisoner, torturer, assassin, man without a moral compass when it came to his CIA work on unsuspecting subjects. On the other hand a man that was interested in folk dance and by some acquaintances (especially the ones he met after retiring from the CIA) described as a calm, nice, reflected man. Gottlieb himself noted that MK-Ultra (and the human suffering that came with it) served a greater purpose. After all the Cold War was in full swing! Did the power that Gottlieb had over the enormous project MK-Ultra show his true colors or might Gottlieb have been a victim of the effects that the project had in a completely different way than most of the unsuspecting civilian victims? Ultimately Gottlieb was haunted by what he did while working for the CIA for many years after MK-Ultra already had ended-just like many of his victims that were haunted by the everlasting effects that LSD experiments had on their psyche.
  • Just a Number
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb chilling account of clandestine CIA
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2022
    I read this after hearing about the Unabomber's student experiences. It really is jaw dropping in places. Expertly written.
  • Maïté BISCH
    5.0 out of 5 stars Cadeau de noël
    Reviewed in France on July 18, 2022
    Livre déroutant mais très intéressant, mon père est conquis par ce cadeau
  • RAFAEL HURTADO
    5.0 out of 5 stars El drogador del gobierno que cambió la juventud
    Reviewed in Mexico on December 9, 2019
    Vital para entender la época de los sesenta y lo que siguió ;fue un trabajo de corporaciónes gubernamentales.