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The Search for the "Manchurian Candidate": The CIA and Mind Control: The Secret History of the Behavioral Sciences Paperback – August 17, 1991

by John D. Marks (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 186 ratings
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"The CIA exposé to end all CIA exposés." ―New York

A 'Manchurian Candidate' is an unwitting assassin brainwashed and programmed to kill. In this book, former State Department officer John Marks tells the explosive story of the CIA's highly secret program of experiments in mind control. His curiosity first aroused by information on a puzzling suicide. Marks worked from thousands of pages of newly released documents as well as interviews and behavioral science studies, producing a book that 'accomplished what two Senate committees could not' (Senator Edward Kennedy).
Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    August 17, 1991
  5. Dimensions
    5.6 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393307948
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393307948
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most important books of the year. . . . We see the CIA on the cutting edge of inquiry into hypnosis, drugs, brainwashing, personality assessment, psychosurgery, electric and radio stimulations of the brain, the creation of involuntary amnesia, terminal shock therapy."
― Playboy

"Perhaps the most compelling, well-researched, organized and well-written account of CIA operations ever."
― Progressive

"A comprehensive, detailed and thoroughly readable account of the CIA safehouses, the brainwashing experiments, the involvement of the universities."
― Washington Monthly

"Fascinating reading."
― Washington Post

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition (August 17, 1991)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393307948
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393307948
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 186 ratings

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John D. Marks

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
186 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bert
5.0 out of 5 stars Not easy to put down.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
Wow. I'd had this on my shopping list for almost two years waiting for a reasonable price. Don't spend more than 10.00 total bc the information seems accurate, but the book was written years ago.
That said, it was worth waiting for. I went through it cover to cover. Particularly interesting to me bc of a degree in Behavioral Psychology, and having worked on several 'Psych. Units' myself back in the day. Hard to imagine this type of government program was discontinued, and personally, I'm pretty sure it has not.
Great reading if you like this stuff.
4 people found this helpful
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Elliot Malach
5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, Drugs and... CIA?
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2010
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This is a fascinating book on the author's analysis of released documents and contact with those involved in overseeing experimentation of the CIA projects into mind control and behavioral science. For obvious reasons, most of the doctors and CIA employees declined to be interviewed or gave little additional information.

What's interesting is not only what is included here, but what must also be out there still classified. This is only the information the CIA felt was mild enough to be disseminated for public consumption. That included giving LSD and other pharmaceuticals in various combinations to students, or, in most cases, to "throw-away" people like prostitutes, drug addicts and prisoners, where bad results could be easily hidden with fewer people asking questions.

Of course, almost all documentation has been destroyed, except some records that were found on MKULTRA. Is the CIA that inept or was these records "found" on purpose? If these were the only records, it would be useless for anyone to pursue the matter further, and the project could continue "black." As obsessed as the CIA was with mind control and hypnosis, it is hard to believe they would just cancel the programs.

Some good did come out of these CIA endeavors: Timothy Leary and Ken Keesey received their original LSD doses courtesy of the CIA grants to our institutions of higher learning. The rest is history.
14 people found this helpful
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Aaron A. Golub
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for every American
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2007
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I'd recommend Search for the Manchurian Candidate to every American over high school age so that they may learn from these abuses. While John Marks bases his book on declassified documents that cannot be challenged, few if anyone in the mainstream media ever discuss these things. This fact clearly illustrates the degree of political corruption and major coverups that take place in our so called 'free press'.

Manchurian Candidate lists the CIA's use of prostitutes in luring unsuspecting 'johns' to CIA run brothels so that our intelligence community may monitor the affects of large doses of LSD given to these men without their knowledge. The CIA would also routinely give LSD to one another in order to monitor it's affects. Unfortunately this resulted in the death of CIA agent Frank Olsen who reportedly committed suicide after having an unexpected 'bad trip'. In classic CIA fashion, they tried to cover up his death and denied all wrongdoing.

While the book is highly detailed and well documented, it only scratches the surface as to how far our intelligence community will go in engaging in illegal activities. Overall it's a great book and I'd recommend it as a starting point for those who are unfamiliar with our government's ongoing MK-ULTRA program.
32 people found this helpful
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trish j
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2014
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This should be a required reading in school! Im glad John Marks pursued his FOIA request for the CIA documents and received the remaining MK ULTRA documents still kept within the CIA. These documents added proof to what was suspected in the CIA. Though many detailed files were destroyed in '73 This is, unfortunately, a part of our history that is kept quiet or when it is talked about it is filled with disinfo. The '77 Senate Hearings on MK ULTRA also documents many things that are in this book. With interviews from former agents and people involved along with the requested documents, John Marks has put together a picture of the CIA's MK ULTRA Program. It is fact. We need to wake up to what is going on under our noses. During that period of time, programs were documented. I believe it is after '72, the CIA decided to stop documentation so there would be no paper trail. How are they being held accountable now? Who really believes that there isn't some sort of testing and experimenting going on right now? It's hard to believe they would just abandon their interest in these projects when they have dedicated so many years and have so much money invested simply because their activities were discovered.
39 people found this helpful
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Viknord
4.0 out of 5 stars Well documented & inciteful book
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2000
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I was a bit hesistant to purchase this book, fearing that it would be nothing but conspiracy drivel, but I was happily surprised to see that Marks had done his homework and had "not" strayed from his supporting documents. With this type of book there is always a concern that the author will rely on over generalization and speculation rather than grounding the work on substantial supporting evidence, but Marks does well to stay within the confines of his knowledge and the facts at hand.
For those interested in this book, which I recommend, I would also like to recommend "Pyschiatry and the CIA" by Harvey M. Weinstein, M.D. Weinstein describes a specific account of CIA funded behavioral modification research that was unwittingly foisted upon his father via his father's psychological treatment by Dr. Ewen Cameron. I think this book would be a nice compliment to Marks' book.
Another book I might mention, although I'm sure many academics as well as other alumni would disagree with me, is "Michel Foucault: Ethics" Vol. 1 edited by Paul Rabinow. Pages 66-85 are especially relevant, which deal with the State's power over its population ("Bio-power").
Other books dealing with behavior modification, albeit with less emphasis on State complicity, are: "Age of Propaganda" by Anthony Pratkanis & Elliot Aronson, and "Battle for the Mind" by William Sargant.
28 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

LORENZO CASTIGNANI
1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle book unreadable / Wrongly scanned
Reviewed in Italy on January 1, 2023
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I bought the Kindle version. The book has been processed / scanned in a wrong way. Some parts are totally unreadable. I kindly ask for a refund.
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Cro-Bro
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
A very interesting read. Well sourced, accurate and to the point. Worth the time and effort.
One person found this helpful
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