Reviews
"Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir Kinzer's retelling of the MK-ULTRA story is unsparing in its gruesome details, but not overwrought . . . Gottlieb has previously been treated as a historical footnote, but Kinzer elevates him to his proper place as one of the C.I.A.'s most influential and despicable characters. --Sharon Weinberger, The New York Times "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He's been called Dr. Death, Washington's 'official poisoner,' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn't pretty--but it is instructive." -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos , The American Conservative "The most powerful and important organs in the invisible government are the nation's bloated and unaccountable intelligence agencies . . . The best window we have into this shadow world comes with historical accounts of its crimes, including those in Stephen Kinzer's new book, Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control." -- Chris Hedges , Truthdig "Stephen Kinzer tells the story of Gottlieb, a chemist obsessed with finding a way to control the human brain, no matter how many innocent minds he destroyed in the process." -- Larry Getlen , New York Post "Stephen Kinzer takes the unusual approach of making Sidney Gottlieb, MK-Ultra's program manager, the central figure of the story . . . Reflecting on Gottlieb's culpability, Mr. Kinzer is careful to place his story in historical context . . . The reader will have to decide how far to venture into this dark thicket." -- The Wall Street Journal, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer''s book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer''s Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA''s Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer''s work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency''s Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It''s all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir Kinzer''s retelling of the MK-ULTRA story is unsparing in its gruesome details, but not overwrought . . . Gottlieb has previously been treated as a historical footnote, but Kinzer elevates him to his proper place as one of the C.I.A.''s most influential and despicable characters. --Sharon Weinberger, The New York Times "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA''s efforts in the 1950s, ''60s, and ''70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It''s an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He''s been called Dr. Death, Washington''s ''official poisoner,'' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn''t pretty--but it is instructive." -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos , The American Conservative "The most powerful and important organs in the invisible government are the nation''s bloated and unaccountable intelligence agencies . . . The best window we have into this shadow world comes with historical accounts of its crimes, including those in Stephen Kinzer''s new book, Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control." -- Chris Hedges , Truthdig "Stephen Kinzer tells the story of Gottlieb, a chemist obsessed with finding a way to control the human brain, no matter how many innocent minds he destroyed in the process." -- Larry Getlen , New York Post "Stephen Kinzer takes the unusual approach of making Sidney Gottlieb, MK-Ultra''s program manager, the central figure of the story . . . Reflecting on Gottlieb''s culpability, Mr. Kinzer is careful to place his story in historical context . . . The reader will have to decide how far to venture into this dark thicket." -- The Wall Street Journal "Stephen Kinzer has written books about civil wars, terror attacks, and bloodycoups, but his latest might be his most alarming. . . . Though the events recounted in Kinzer''s Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control took place a half-century ago, they''re scandalous in a way that transcends time." -- The Daily Beast, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly, "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir Kinzer's retelling of the MK-ULTRA story is unsparing in its gruesome details, but not overwrought . . . Gottlieb has previously been treated as a historical footnote, but Kinzer elevates him to his proper place as one of the C.I.A.'s most influential and despicable characters. --Sharon Weinberger, The New York Times "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He's been called Dr. Death, Washington's 'official poisoner,' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn't pretty--but it is instructive." -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos , The American Conservative "The most powerful and important organs in the invisible government are the nation's bloated and unaccountable intelligence agencies . . . The best window we have into this shadow world comes with historical accounts of its crimes, including those in Stephen Kinzer's new book, Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control." -- Chris Hedges , Truthdig "Stephen Kinzer tells the story of Gottlieb, a chemist obsessed with finding a way to control the human brain, no matter how many innocent minds he destroyed in the process." -- Larry Getlen , New York Post, "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He's been called Dr. Death, Washington's 'official poisoner,' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn't pretty--but it is instructive." --The American Conservative, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir Kinzer's retelling of the MK-ULTRA story is unsparing in its gruesome details, but not overwrought . . . Gottlieb has previously been treated as a historical footnote, but Kinzer elevates him to his proper place as one of the C.I.A.'s most influential and despicable characters. -- The New York Times "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He's been called Dr. Death, Washington's 'official poisoner,' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn't pretty--but it is instructive." --The American Conservative, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books, "Winding through the spy-loving Eisenhower-Kennedy years, Kinzer's book is a Tarantino movie yet to be made: it has the right combination of sick humor, pointless violence, weird tabloid characters, and sheer American waste. It is also frightening to read . . . [and] compelling, not least in the way it illustrates how the law of unintended consequences in covert action can work with an almost delirious vengeance." -- Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker "Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller --but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography "Stephen Kinzer has done a great public service with this absorbing and informative portrait of the life and career of Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA scientist who was the Agency's Dr. No in the Cold War--a producer of poison pills, poison darts, and leader of the hunt for the perfect killing machine, a la the Manchurian Candidate. It's all in the bone-crunching detail, and Kinzer, a master of American perfidy, has done it again." -- Seymour M. Hersh , author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib and Reporter: A Memoir Kinzer's retelling of the MK-ULTRA story is unsparing in its gruesome details, but not overwrought . . . Gottlieb has previously been treated as a historical footnote, but Kinzer elevates him to his proper place as one of the C.I.A.'s most influential and despicable characters. --Sharon Weinberger, The New York Times "A stranger-than-fiction account of the CIA's efforts in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s at developing mind control and chemical-based espionage methods, and the chemist, Sidney Gottlieb, who spearheaded the effort . . . The nigh-unbelievable efforts he led are vividly and horrifically recreated in this fascinating history. " -- Publishers Weekly "It's an awful story, told fast and well . . . Kinzer has put together a revolting look at the champions of freedom in the USA." -- San Francisco Review of Books "He's been called Dr. Death, Washington's 'official poisoner,' and a mad scientist. But Sidney Gottlieb never became a household name . . . Now, pulling together a trove of existing research, newly unearthed documents, and fresh interviews, Kinzer puts the fetid corpus of American Empire back under a microscope. It isn't pretty--but it is instructive." -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos , The American Conservative "The most powerful and important organs in the invisible government are the nation's bloated and unaccountable intelligence agencies . . . The best window we have into this shadow world comes with historical accounts of its crimes, including those in Stephen Kinzer's new book, Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control." -- Chris Hedges , Truthdig "Stephen Kinzer tells the story of Gottlieb, a chemist obsessed with finding a way to control the human brain, no matter how many innocent minds he destroyed in the process." -- Larry Getlen , New York Post "Stephen Kinzer takes the unusual approach of making Sidney Gottlieb, MK-Ultra's program manager, the central figure of the story . . . Reflecting on Gottlieb's culpability, Mr. Kinzer is careful to place his story in historical context . . . The reader will have to decide how far to venture into this dark thicket." -- Wall Street Journal, " Absolutely riveting. Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief reads like a spy thriller--but his revelations about the macabre career of the CIA's Sidney Gottlieb are deeply disturbing. Kinzer's work underscores once again the narrative power of biography to unearth our collective history." -- Kai Bird , Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of American Prometheus , author of The Good Spy , and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography
