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A brilliant and mind-bending exploration of brainwashing and thought control

About the Author

Daniel Pick is a psychoanalyst, historian, university teacher, writer and broadcaster. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London, a fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and author of several books on modern cultural history, psychoanalysis, and the history of the human sciences.

Reviews

'A frankly brilliant book' - Kathryn Hughes

'Daniel Pick has done the most wonderful, engaging and compelling job in tracing the roots of this particular strain of post-war anxiety in all it's forms, from totalitarian tyrannies and espionage, right up to today's fears of fake news and ubiquitous algorithms. And [he] has terrific range: whether discussing the delicacy of democracy or psychiatric hospitals, Pick's account is mesmerising and generous, [leaving] you continually wondering about your own power to resist.' - Sinclair McKay

'Dizzyingly fluent ... a reminder that, in the matter of thinking for ourselves, cages come in all sizes and shapes' - Anthony Cummins

'Daniel Pick has here taken a great step toward answering a great preoccupation of the twentieth century' - Professor Eli Zaretsky, The New School for Social Research and author of Secrets of The Soul: A Social and Cultural History of Psychoanalysis

'Mixing insights from his practice as a psychoanalyst, Daniel Pick takes us on a gripping ride through the history and makes us ponder how, in a digital economy that moves ever faster, we can ever think for ourselves. A thought-provoking must read.' - Professor Lyndall Roper, Oxford University