War On The Mind: The Military Uses And Abuses Of Psychology

by Peter Watson

An account of the psychological research – much of it secret – carried out by military authorities in America, Britain, Israel, Australia – even Russia – during the Cold War and the Vietnam War, in fields such as interrogation, torture, riflemanship, sabotage, propaganda, tactics. After it was published, it became required reading in the Pentagon.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, History, Conspiracy Theories, Politics, War, Military Fiction

429 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States.

After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.

He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.

Awards, Etc.

Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961

Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965

United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice

Books of the Year

Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.

Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983

Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006

US Library Association
The Great Divide.

Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.

Best sellers

The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures

Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:

Universities

Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases

Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in

Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues

Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals

Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York

Reviews

[Peter Traplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I must admit that this book is definitely outdated at times it provides a fascinating contemporaneous look at all sorts military psychology. As it was written by Peter Watson I knew it would be a well written and fascinating dive into ideas and thought with a military spin. I was definitely not disappointed. It was thorough, well researched and funny at times (mostly the stuff about using hallucinogens for war). I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology, the military or even just general history.

It isn't easy to find a copy of War on the Mind that isn't prohibitively expensive but if you do take the leap and buy it. You won't be disappointed.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, but dated. It talked about psychology's applications to increasing accuracy of marksmanship, increasing efficiency of combat units and leaders, terrorism and what causes people to join terror cells (from Vietnam and Korea specifically, as this book was written well before 9/11 and the terrorist attacks that younger people are familiar with). It discussed research into atrocities and about using animals in warfare. It also discussed research that was undertaken to determine what might happen during a nuclear attack and how best to go about training soldiers for that possibility, using information from the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some information was listed about radiation's effects, and I wondered why Chernobyl was not mentioned (the Ukrainian nuclear disaster), and then realized that this book was published before Chernobyl (and before the Three Mile Island accident too, I believe).

I wonder how the book would read if it was updated to include current and recent events. It listed at the end that the military would need to find ways to continue recruiting because by the 90s, people will be more and more unwilling to go to war to fight for and die for causes that they do not feel are worth it. Reading the predictions at the end was interesting, as the predictions were for the 90s. I would have liked the book to have discussed uses/abuses of psychology on our soldiers in training, such as boot camp, and about hazing in boot camp, which has resulted in some deaths this year. This book focuses mostly on the Army, although the Navy was included. I would have liked to have had more information about life at sea and the psychology of living on the ship, as well as any psychological experiments that may have taken place on our Sailors.

The book was a somewhat difficult read due to the subject matter and academic nature of the book, but I enjoyed reading it. I found it to be very interesting, especially as the book went on.