The Sleep Room A Very British Medical Scandal

'A damning portrait' Telegraph
The Royal Waterloo Hospital, London in the 1960s. Six young women are taken from their beds by the nurses and given electroconvulsive therapy before being put to sleep again. All under the predatory eye of Dr William Sargant.
THE SLEEP ROOM is a chilling exposé of Sargant's bizarre psychiatric treatments that were inflicted on hundreds of women with mental illness - among them the actor Celia Imrie. At the story's centre is a sinister and charismatic doctor, who was a hugely influential figure in post-war British society.
But now women he treated without their consent have been campaigning to tell the truth about Sargant. Author Jon Stock tells these women's stories as well as delving into the murky history of Sargant's links with the CIA and MI5, both of which took a close interest in his efforts to reprogramme the human mind.
As compulsive as a thriller, The Sleep Room finally gets to the truth of a scandal at the heart of the British medical establishment.
'Lacerating' Blake Morrison, Guardian Book of the Day
Chosen as a Best Book of 2025 by The Times