Book Review. Dr William Sargant, British MK ULTRA and 1960s Youth Culture

In March (2025) came the release of a new book that attracted my interest. Titled ‘The Sleep Room. A Very British Medical Scandal,’ it investigates the career of controversial British psychiatrist Dr. William Sargant. There are many reasons – whether alleged or not – as to why the shadow of controversy follows him and his legacy…
During the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s – within the walls of a National Health Service hospital in the heart of London – he’s said to have wiped the memories clean of an untold number of his patients through a concoction of drugs, ECT, and enforced sleep – hence the title of this book by novelist and journalist Jon Stock. Although never proven conclusively thus far, the author highlights allegations that Sargant was working for British intelligence as well as the CIA and its MK ULTRA program.

Regarded as an expert on brainwashing and mind-control, Sargant stated publicly that he believed the 1960s “youth culture,” along with the mass appeal of The Beatles, to have been a ‘physiological technique’ in order to steer and manipulate a generation. Now, this assessment, was it based on his own firsthand, yet Top Secret, experience? Well, as I mention in the presentation, his alleged involvement in MK ULTRA-type experiments in 1960s England alongside a hypnotist doctor who was almost blood related by marriage to a member of the band might make one wonder.  

Jon Stock’s book is available here:  
https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/jon-stock/the-sleep-room/9780349128894/