MIKE JAY

A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind

This is the true story of Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, the character in the fifth series of the BBCs popular television drama Poldark. Colonel Despard was the last person to be sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering in Britain - for high treason, an alleged plot to kill the king. His execution on 21st February 1803 was witnessed by twenty thousand hushed onlookers. Their silence was ominous, for few believed he was guilty. His death would tear apart a Britain still reeling from the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. But who was Edward Marcus Despard? Was he, as his comrade-in-arms on the Spanish Main Lord Nelson believed, an outstanding British army officer of unimpeachable honour, courage and patriotism? Or, as the white slave-owners of the Caribbean claimed, a traitor not only to his nation but to his race, who had married a local woman and championed the rights of freed slaves?And when Despard returned to London to answer these allegations, did he commit himself to the cause of political reform in Britains best interest? Or did he join a shadowy international terrorist conspiracy dedicated to the murder of George III and the overthrow of the state? Despards contested fate marked the sensational climax to a British revolution that never happened, but it also presaged the birth of modern democracy.Compelling, absorbing and wide-ranging . . . Jay weaves a complex variety of themes, many with overtly topical resonances, into Despards journey from hero to traitorSunday Times

Updated & revised edition of the history of todays illegals drugs. The text of Emperors of Dreams has been revised, updated and with new material added, it paints a fresh and startling picture both of todays illicit drugs and of the nineteenth century in general. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of drugs and drugs policy.

A gripping true tale of madness, technology, politics, and paranoia in Georgian England.Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Tilly Matthewss case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror and war.But Matthewss case was even stranger than his doctors realized: many of the incredible conspiracies in which he claimed to be involved were entirely real. Caught up in high-level diplomatic intrigues in the chaos of the French revolution, he found himself betrayed by both sides, and in possession of a secret that no one would believeOriginally published as The Air Loom Gang (2003), the text has been fully revised and updated, with newly discovered source material and previously unpublished images.

The world has ended and the devil is riding high into town. Join him on his journey to the west

Una historia cultural provocadora y absolutamente original sobre los científicos, escritores, artistas y filósofos que consumieron drogas para explorar el lado oculto de la mente.Hasta el siglo XX, los cientificos que investigaban los efectos de las drogas en la mente lo hacian experimentando consigo mismos. Las detalladas descripciones de sus experiencias dieron pie a avances en todas las ciencias de la mente, en la farmacologia, la medicina y la filosofia. Los relatos publicados en revistas y en la ficcion literaria inspiraron a un fascinado publico a emprender sus propios experimentos en forma de demostraciones cientificas, viajes exoticos, salones literarios y rituales ocultistas. Sin embargo, tras el año 1900, las drogas empezaron a percibirse como un problema social, y la dilatada tradicion de la autoexperimentacion fue desapareciendo.En Psiconautas, Mike Jay recupera con mano experta una tradicion intelectual en torno al consumo de drogas que alimento el nacimiento de la psicologia, el descubrimiento del inconsciente y el surgimiento del modernismo. Hoy que volvemos a recibir con los brazos abiertos los estimulantes cognitivos y las sustancias psicodelicas nuevas, descubriremos los experimentos de los psiconautas originales, desde los experimentos con la cocaina de Sigmund Freud hasta la revelacion de William James tras inhalar oxido nitroso, que nos revelan la profunda influencia de las drogas psicoactivas en la ciencia, la filosofia y la cultura occidentales.

Una historia cultural provocadora y absolutamente original sobre los científicos, escritores, artistas y filósofos que consumieron drogas para explorar el lado oculto de la mente.Hasta el siglo XX, los cientificos que investigaban los efectos de las drogas en la mente lo hacian experimentando consigo mismos. Las detalladas descripciones de sus experiencias dieron pie a avances en todas las ciencias de la mente, en la farmacologia, la medicina y la filosofia. Los relatos publicados en revistas y en la ficcion literaria inspiraron a un fascinado publico a emprender sus propios experimentos en forma de demostraciones cientificas, viajes exoticos, salones literarios y rituales ocultistas. Sin embargo, tras el año 1900, las drogas empezaron a percibirse como un problema social, y la dilatada tradicion de la autoexperimentacion fue desapareciendo.En Psiconautas, Mike Jay recupera con mano experta una tradicion intelectual en torno al consumo de drogas que alimento el nacimiento de la psicologia, el descubrimiento del inconsciente y el surgimiento del modernismo. Hoy que volvemos a recibir con los brazos abiertos los estimulantes cognitivos y las sustancias psicodelicas nuevas, descubriremos los experimentos de los psiconautas originales, desde los experimentos con la cocaina de Sigmund Freud hasta la revelacion de William James tras inhalar oxido nitroso, que nos revelan la profunda influencia de las drogas psicoactivas en la ciencia, la filosofia y la cultura occidentales.

Bristol Rovers most famous player is undoubtedly Geoff Bradford. He holds the club record for goals scored (242 in 461 Football League appearances) and remains the only player to win a Full England International cap while with the club. To research this book, the authors have been given access to an archive of information and original photographs from his family. Bristol-born Geoff was a loyal one-club man having turned down the option of a transfer to First Division Liverpool. He suffered two very severe career-threatening knee injuries and returned to play football for his club, who rewarded him with a Testimonial match at the end of his fifteenth season. Besides representing England, he also won other honours for Rovers winning the Third Division (South) Championship in 1952/53 and also played in many representative matches for the English Football Association including a six-week tour to the West Indies in 1955. There has never been a biography of Bradford, so this will be a welcome title for all dedicated Rovers fans.

Harold Jarman is a Bristol-born sporting legend. A highly talented winger for Bristol Rovers, he made almost 500 League appearances for the club, scoring over a century of goals. Although he has taken on many different roles for clubs in the UK and the United States, his heart has always belonged to Bristol he returned initially as youth team manager, then caretaker manager (saving the Rovers from relegation) before coaching and managing the youth and reserve teams During the summer months between 1961 and 1972, Harold also enjoyed playing professionally for Gloucestershire County Cricket club, delighting crowds with his skill and particularly his astute fielding. In this book, Mike Jay and Ian Haddrell explore a remarkable life, accompanied by fascinating pictures, many unpublished from Harolds own collection.