Dimsdale’s sobering account makes the reader wonder if what anti-vaxxers, Big Lie believers, and victims of brainwashing techniques have in common is the story told in this book about the socialization of cognition and emotion. “This book is a fascinating account of coercive persuasion from Pavlov to today's mass believers in conspiracy. The question of how large groups of seemingly reasonable people come to hold obviously unreasonable beliefs is one of the deepest questions of our age.”-Tanya Luhrmann, author of When God Talks Back “In an age with deep concern that we are being manipulated by artificial intelligence and algorithms, this is an important topic and a timely, well-written book. Shortlisted for the 2022 William James Award, sponsored by the APA It achieves that goal wonderfully.”-Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review Dark Persuasion was intended as a historical overview of the development of brainwashing. and the book is as energetic and enjoyable as his previous one. “Dimsdale is a brilliantly concise and insightful guide. not the intricate manipulation of another person’s thoughts but simple abuse, whether conducted by the government or by the leaders of a cult.”-Jo Livingstone, New Republic Throughout Dark Persuasion, Dimsdale shows how the idea of brainwashing has been used to justify. a tool exploited by cultists and religious leaders and ultimately a phenomenon that eludes easy definition while growing ever harder to ignore. 'Highly readable and compelling.'-Sarah Marks, Science Dimsdale takes readers through it all, animating the journey with a clear, energetic writing style that shows how the art of dark persuasion a generation ago led almost inevitably to today’s misinformation, cyberbullying and cultlike behavior on the Internet.”-Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post Nobel laureates, university academics, intelligence operatives, criminals, and clerics all populate this shattering and dark story-one that hasn’t yet ended. In response, a huge Manhattan Project of the Mind was established to study memory obliteration, indoctrination during sleep, and hallucinogens. Brainwashing returned to the spotlight during the Cold War in the hands of the North Koreans and Chinese. Tracing these developments through many of the past century’s major conflagrations, Dimsdale narrates how when World War II erupted, governments secretly raced to develop drugs for interrogation. When Pavlov introduced scientific approaches, his research was enthusiastically supported by Lenin and Stalin, setting the stage for major breakthroughs in tools for social, political, and religious control. shows how the art of dark persuasion a generation ago led almost inevitably to today’s misinformation, cyberbullying and cultlike behavior on the Internet.”-Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post This gripping book traces the evolution of brainwashing from its beginnings in torture and religious conversion into the age of neuroscience and social media. A 'highly readable and compelling' account ( Science) of brainwashing’s pervasive role in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries “Riveting.

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