Neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell punctures the hype around psychedelic drugs while providing the fullest picture yet of their limitlessly fascinating possibilities.

'Original and thrilling ... achieving profound insights' Mike Jay, author of Psychonauts

'An incisive, deeply personal and beautifully written account of the power, the uses and the modern misuses of psychedelics. Highly recommended' Anil Seth, author of Being You

Psychedelics have made a comeback but remain a mystery. They are now a 'breakthrough therapy' for mental illness but in truth we have only a vague idea how they work and there is a limit to what the science can reveal. To have any hope of understanding them, we must broaden our view - dramatically - of what they actually are.

In this daring, perception-shifting odyssey, clinical neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different drugs in ten different settings, journeying from a London neuroimaging lab to the Colombian Amazon via Silicon Valley and his friend's basement kitchen. His encounters with scientists and gangsters, venture capitalists and con men, psychonauts and shamans, as well as with the drugs themselves, reveal the reality of psychedelics in all their strangeness, hilarity, darkness and wonder.

'A hair-raising hurtle of a ride' Henry Shukman, author of One Blade of Grass

'Utterly compelling ... like having an out of body experience' Mark Miodownik, author of Stuff Matters

'The psychedelic world has been waiting for this book' Professor Erika Dyck