LSD - The Wonder Child: The Golden Age of Psychedelic Research in the 1950s

LSD - The Wonder Child traces the rise of psychedelic research in the 1950s, portraying LSD as a promising “wonder child” rather than a disruptive “problem child.” Thomas Hatsis follows how different groups in Europe and America tried to use LSD in clinical and nonclinical settings, ranging from research laboratories and the military to bohemian art circles. The book highlights how doctors, using early primary source medical reports, treated LSD as a potential tool for gaining access to the minds of schizophrenic patients and better understanding causes of mental illness. The narrative also connects psychedelic experimentation to government secrecy, describing how the CIA considered LSD for mind-control purposes through MKUltra. It further revisits lesser-known figures such as Robert Hyde and Rosalind Heywood and argues that influences from Central American mushroom ceremonies and peyote rites blended with Western mysticism, helping shift LSD from a feared madness mimic into a kind of sacramental medicine.