Review: Birth of a psychedelic culture

Originally published in 2010 'Birth of a Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about Leary, the Harvard experiment, Millbrook and the Sixties' is a fascinating insight into the early years of the Western social phenomena, now known as psychedelia. Its multifaceted approach produces a wonderfully rounded examination of life within the burgeoning psychedelic bubble and the evolving atmosphere therein.

The book is largely constructed through a transcribed conversation between Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert) and Dr. Ralph Metzner -- both core members, alongside Timothy Leary, in the Harvard Psilocybin project-- and is mediated by Gary Bravo. They recollect, discursively, the history and the discourse that shaped not only their lives, but, in part, the lives of millions of other people as well. Each section of the book is annotated by key events...