I love this type of book. It’s a book with a solid theme and interesting real world stories. Kept me hooked and wanting more! Learned a bit along the way too!

This is a very interesting and eye opening book about the history of brainwashing. The book really makes you think about what is going on in the news and media today. I listened to the audio book.

A very thorough and insightful look at the history of brainwashing and how it evolves with us. There are systematic issues in place where cults are given space to thrive. Cult-ish behavior is both abhorred and promoted by media corporations only thinking about the single dollar. And with monopoly laws ceasing to exist and less than 5 media corporations owning all of the news in the country, it doesn't feel like cults are going away anytime soon. As long as we continue to prioritize capitalistic endeavors over the individual they will continue to thrive and evolve along with society.

I will be dividing this review in two parts: one for narration, the second for the content.
1. I loved the narration and the calm, even tone the narrator possessed. I would listen to this narrator read the phone book or a dictionary.
2. The content is interesting and written in a manner that translates as being matter of fact when narrated.
Unfortunately, the combination with the cadence of the narration and style of writing made for a book that I enjoyed thoroughly because it helped me fall asleep. I could not seem to stay awake though the topic is one I am interested in-this one might be better to consume via ebook or paper. I rated it three stars because both content and narration were good, but the combination made for a book that I struggled to consume.

I received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are mine alone.

I only was able to listen to about 10% of the audiobook. The subject matter was darker than expected. I would put more content warnings around the title.

Ready to be extremely suspicious of everything to read and watch? Joel E. Dimsdale's book Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media explores the evolution of techniques used for breaking down the brain. Starting with Pavlov's discoveries, those supported by Lenin and Stalin, the book goes through the largest breakthroughs of techniques groups who wish to have social, political, and religious control use to breakdown someone and redefine their thinking. The book discusses torture, forced religious conversion, development of mind altering drugs, and changes to interrogation techniques. Dimsdale doesn't just keep his research to cults and religions, but how these methods are used in war. This book is deeply fascinating, but equally depressing.  He shares information about modern social media and how it can lead to changes in mental processing and belief. Pavlov would be thrilled. 

Narrator Eric Jason Martin helms the audiobook and does a brilliant job. While I'd known quite a bit of the information in regards to MK Ultra and other CIA projects, its another thing to have someone explain the details to you while you're trying to complete a document at your day job.

Dark Persuasion is available in print and audiobook form now.

Dark Persuasion is a fascinating and comprehensive exploration of brainwashing and how its methodology has evolved over centuries to become what it is today. Brainwashing crept into the twentieth century insidiously, hiding from view in the dog labs of St. Petersburg. By the end of the century, the world was obsessed with it. It promised to make the new man, but it also provided harsh tools for interrogation. Government-sponsored researchers around the world raced to develop techniques to enhance persuasion and also to defend against it, while cult leaders employed it as a tool for indoctrinating followers. This book traces the evolution of brainwashing in the 20th century. With its beginnings in torture and religious conversion, coercive persuasion was transformed when Pavlov introduced scientific approaches. His research was enthusiastically supported by Lenin and Stalin, and many believe Pavlov’s techniques helped elicit confessions during the Soviet Show Trials. When World War II erupted, governments raced to develop drugs for interrogation, but this work on coercive persuasion was hidden from public view. Brainwashing returned to the spotlight during the Cold War in the hands of the North Koreans and Chinese.

In response, a huge Manhattan Project of the Mind was established to study memory obliteration, indoctrination during sleep and hallucinogens. But it wasn’t just governmental agencies that were interested in dark persuasion: cults used the techniques as well. The outcomes, whether at the hands of governments or cult leaders, were all-too-often shatteringly destructive. History is shaped by individuals acting in the context of vast impersonal forces. Who were the people who moulded brainwashing? What did they think they were doing? What were their motivations? And how will social media and neuroscience research determine the evolution of brainwashing in the 21st century? A captivating, well written and illuminating read from beginning to end, Dimsdale, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, has crafted a provocative, informative and timely guide to how our mind has and is currently being manipulated and influenced, often without our knowledge. It's frightening, eye-opening and intensely thought-provoking and an engaging learning experience regarding the use of coercive persuasion to shape both human thinking and behaviour. Highly recommended.

Super interesting! The concept of brainwashing just sounds so silly to me. But after reading Dark Persuasion I can see how it’s actually very valid and dangerous. It was interesting to see the progression of the use of manipulation, from being used in the war and now in media. It really made me think.

I recommend this book to anyone that is curious about brainwashing and how it has been used throughout history.

Thank You to Joel E. Dimsdale for the digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

(My rating 2.5)

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy of Dark Persuasion by Joel Dimsdale in exchange for my honest review.
DarkPersuasion #NetGalley.
Dark Persuasion is a history of how brainwashing has been used in society from the beginning when Pavlov started using Manipulation of the mind to today in the media. If you love history, sociology or psychology then this book is for you.
Dimsdale gives a great historical account of how brainwashing was first used and used again in the cold War and ww2.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in this subject as he has done his research well.
4 stars.