Customer Reviews

The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

If you are looking for a very enjoyable and eminently easy book to read about the history of PSI and its use in warfare, this is an excellent book. There is a lot of material here. Some of it has been around for a long time, but not so much of it has been collected and stashed in one place, which makes this a great book for the home library. Of particular interest is both the intense interest in, and use of psychics throughout history, by governments as well as individuals. It would seem through evidence, that while "psychic functioning" has sometimes been heavily relied upon and sometimes ridiculed, it has always been with us, and for a very long time. A nice compendium of information.

Have you ever gotten completely annoyed after paying $10 to see a horrible movie, thinking "I just lost 2 HOURS of my life, that I will never be able to get back!" ?? This is how I feel, after reading this poorly written book.

I have read 5 books on remote viewing in total, including 2 by Joe McMoneagle, 1 by Courtney Brown and finally the Jim Schnabel book "Remote Viewers : The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies" before this disaster, so I feel that I have a good reference point by which to form an educated opinion. Based on that, I have one question for W. Adam Mandelbaum: Why write a book, when you have nothing to say? If you're into VAGUENESS, innuendos and HINTS about things that you nor I can substantiate, even if this horrible author actually gave us straightforward FACTS to investigate (of which there are VERY few) then this is the book for you. If you don't want to learn ANYTHING, by all means, click "Add to Cart" right now. For those who are seriously interested in what seem like FACTS (he names names, folks) then go for the Schnabel book, and then up to Joe McMoneagle's work. Leave this one out completely, as it is a VERY frustrating read (HINTS HINTS HINTS!), and the author has crowned himself the "original" writer on this subject, which is patently untrue. The condescending attitude toward his peers, his arrogance and self proclamation of importance in the PSI programs only serves to alienate the reader. Through this tedious read, it is also plainly obvious that this man is in this for the money ONLY, and shamelessly attempts to drum up business for his company. Also, his unprofessionalism being blaringly apparent is demonstrated on this very website. Read HIS reviews of OTHER remote viewing works. This is something that should simply not be done, nor allowed. Go to the page for the Schnabel book, read Mandelbaum's review, and click on his name to read ALL of his reviews. It is absolutely PRICELESS to read over and over again such phrases as "For the complete history of psychic spying, get my book PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD." and "As the author of the newly published PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD, (St. Martin's Press 2/2000)", not to mention my favorites "Hell, I should know, I am the author of the first complete history of psychic spying--THE PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD." and the shameless self-promotion in his review of Jim Schnabel's book, "For the complete story, I recommend my work." Are you disgusted yet? Getting the point? Well, Mandelbaum's book has the same feel as his reviews. Disgracefully self centered, for someone who was a VERY, VERY minor player in the PSI world. ...If you read this book before any others on the subject, you will surely toss your interest in PSI research into the dumpster right along with this amateurishly written nonsense. (Doesn't St Maarten's press have an EDITOR on staff?) Oh, and by the way, Mr Mendelbaum, you may remove your lips from Joe McMoneagle's buttocks now. We get the point. He's very good, and dignified. Learn from him. And grow up.

Wow -- it's impressive that Joseph McMoneagle gives this book 5 stars. Author Mandelbaum has done a lot of research, and presents use of the paranormal by the military in ages past well, with some good discussion of the ethics of using psi, the validity of psi and remote viewing, and some useful comments on how the implications of remote viewing affect our world view. But in my opinion the drawbacks of this book severely limit it.
For instance, Mandelbaum lists as "not fact" the story by David Morehouse that Morehouse's army helmet was hit by a machinegun round. Why is it not fact? Because one scientist says that head trauma can't awaken psychic experience. And because McMoneagle had a Near Death Experience (awakening McMoneagle's psychic ability), that means Morehouse couldn't have very separately suffered head trauma. Not only are there a number of people who report that head trauma awakened their psychic talent, but one could also find a number of scientists who would say McMoneagle's NDE couldn't have any relationship to psychic ability. Why the double standard? Does Mandelbaum really confuse McMoneagle's NDE (without head trauma) with Morehouse's head trauma (without NDE)? How illogical to claim that one man's NDE disproves another man's head injury! Morehouse was actually struck by a bullet; by including such pointless attacks, Mandelbaum makes us wonder what other stuff Mandelbaum made up.
Mandelbaum also criticizes Morehouse because Morehouse couldn't remote-view the location of a stolen manuscript. Yet McMoneagle, in McMoneagle's own book, says that "Remote viewing is _not_ good for locating [lost] things" (emphasis in original). There's little dispute McMoneagle is the best; yet Mandelbaum criticizes Morehouse for not doing something McMoneagle says can't be done.
Mandelbaum's chapter 24 contains repeated sophomoric insults to Ronald and Nancy Reagan. What does that have to do with the book topic? Where was the editor?
Some editing out of personal animosity and illogic, and the removal of cutesy and sophomoric comments, would greatly improve this book. For the person interested in remote viewing, I'd recommend, instead, Jim Schnabel's _Remote Viewers_ and Joseph McMoneagle's _Mind Trek_.

If I could give separate ratings to the parts of a book, I could.

This book is about the interaction between military needs and paranormal ability, and purports to be a history thereof, reaching back to biblical days all the way to the present-day.

On the whole, I've read worse (see my review of Psychic Warrior...interestingly, Mandelbaum goes into a few extra details about David Morehouse that I found illuminating). This book really hits its stride right after World War 2, when the U.S. government starts its secret research on ESP for military uses, concentrating on the use of clairvoyance (which the military calls "remote viewing"). He comes to some very interesting conclusions, particularly about current government research and use of remote viewing (summary: Yep.).

Unfortunately, the first half of the book is, as far as I can tell, a complete and utter waste of tree pulp. I never get the impression that he's done any serious research on any of the pre-gunpowder era uses of magic or ESP. To be fair, there's very little evidence one way or another, but he treats anything and everything as hearsay, and notes that it couldn't possibly work.

My other concern is that Mandelbaum is, to be blunt, a very snide and sardonic writer. He constantly interjects comments in parentheses (like some hack writer), and belittles almost everything and everyone he writes about. In some cases, like Morehouse's, it's deserved. In most, I see no reason at all for it. His disparagement of anything he has not seen work, or what trusted friends tell him will not work, is disheartening. Finally, he really seems to enjoy showing off his personal beliefs and vocabulary, in a manner that makes me really, really not like him.

In short, this is okay, if only for the part about modern-day remote viewing. I'd flip through it a bit in the bookstore before buying it, though.

The author presents a lot of interesting information and gives the reader a lot of food for thought. For the uninitiated, (like myself) I think this book is a good overview of things that you may want to later find out more about. But the book was far from definitive. Most of his information was vague and hinted at things more than anything else. What he does state he repeats again and again, as if the reader can't follow these concepts. Additionally, the author doesn't make much effort to conceal his own bias for or against much of what he tries to documents. His juvenile attacks on Ronald Reagan make me seriously question the maturity of the writer and doubt even more the veracity of his "historical account". Again, interesting, and a good springboard for further study, but not objective, definitive, or professional.

Having been a keen observer of paranormal psychology for decades, I must say that I found the level of information in "The Psychic Battlefield" somewhat facile, but it none-the-less provides a valuable accumulation of data that would otherwise have to acquired from a range of sources.

I fear that Mr Mandelbaum has on occasion let his prejudices run away with his otherwise good sense, in that on occasion he has been willing to demonstrate a distinct bias against the work of those whom he deems inimical to the interests of his former employers (the CIA).

All in all an interesting but superficial book.

As a long time researcher and experimenter into supranormal abilities I find this book introductory and a rehash for beginners into this field. Remote viewing is a recent government intelligence term for an ability known throughout history both in the western esoteric tradition and in kundalini yoga where it is one of the siddhis or yogic powers. The people who are best at it while not necessarily noble are unknown and their personality types would not fit the mold of government intelligence. So Stargate never accessed the best but did luck out in getting the late Pat Price and McMoneagle. You can find out for free on the web that the official review of the Stargate program did not use an overall review of accuracy, a point which Mandelbaum tediously drives home. The accuracy fell off because the government did not trust recruiting nonmilitary occult adepts(who probably would not be recruited anyway) and absurdly assumed these gifts could be taught. People are out there now trying to make money teaching what many believe cannot be taught, but only enhanced. The late Paramahansa Yogananda writes about a man who claimed he had this ability. Yogananda knowing that the man did not display characterictics of awakened kundalini powers demonstrated in real time what was occuring at a restaurant down the street,and proved to observers that the man's attempt was imaginary. Jim Schnabel's excellent Remote Viewers book tells the pathetic downfall of the program which ultimately failed due to lack of talent and clout. Mandelbaum's gushy overstatement of Joe McMoneagles' ability seems allied to his latter revelation that he has gone into business with McMoneagle, forming Intuitive Studies Institute. Last but not least Mandelbaum's credibility is strained when he unconvincingly worries about the C.I.A. taking an interest in him after Mel Riley confided that the government monitors people who demonstrate an interest in psychic spying. Afterall, Mandelbaum reveals he was a U.S. intelligence operative which according to public sources on the web was the C.I.A. .McMoneagle is heavily involved with the Monroe Institute which according to published accounts has acted in the past as a recruitment vehicle for government psychic programs. Mandelbaum does not give necessary information on the fate of the other psychic programs such as the NSA program Schnabel mentions in his book. Perhaps this was the program that was trying to monitor thought transmissions from the former Soviet Union and did its recruitment from the American Society of Dowsers (no kidding folks).The late Christopher Bird who was intimately involved with the dowsers was an acknowleged ex-CIA agent.This book gives a basic overview of the field but appears purposely vague and aimed toward finding clients for his new business. Nonetheless remote viewing does deserve a wider audience and this book hopefully will both set the record straight that RV does work and why shouldn't someone make money off a rare talent?

As a coordinate and extended remote viewer trained by Dr. David Morehouse, I looked forward to reading The Psychic Battlefield but was disappointed as I found the book to be filled with inconsistencies. Although the early history is interesting, I question just how much Mr. Mandelbaum understands his topic and subjects.

For example, the author makes reference to Dr. Morehouse's book, Psychic Warrior, and quotes him: "I felt myself rising into the darkness, I felt blind, lost, helpless and cold." The author comments "...it is similar to what is referred to as extended remote viewing but the majority of the RV work does not involve out of body experiences or any such thing." Yet just a few pages earlier, the author quotes Mr. Lyn Buchanan as saying, "You can sometimes enter a sort of virtual reality where the things coming from your sub conscious appear to be totally real."

As the author further describes from his conversations with Mr. Mel Riley and Mr. Joseph McMoneagle, "I clearly saw that RV was a rather mundane appearing procedure. It's results were sometimes amazing, but if one was to film somebody sitting in a chair and drawing scribbles on a piece of paper and talking into a tape recorder, you wouldn't get boffo blockbuster box office footage." Quite true. But the author seems to forget the accurately described, by Morehouse and Buchanan, subjective experience of the viewer. I recall targeting an offshore oil rig after my CRV training in which I was immediately flooded with the sensation of panic because there was no 'easy road out of this place.' The author should be aware that some of us do experience the sensations commonly associated with extended remote viewing while using the structure of coordinate remote viewing, and had the author observed me during that session, I'm sure that it would have appeared mundane, but was anything but.

The author further writes, referring to Morehouse, "This "good remote viewer" had to hire a private investigator when one version of his manuscript for Psychic Warrior was stolen," and continues, "...he could not find his own manuscript with his psychic powers." But just a few pages later the author writes, "...the mutual target ignorance of the viewer...is an important protocol." Had Dr. Morehouse targeted his own manuscript it would not have met the true remote viewing session protocols as the author claims to be aware. Are these examples from the author inconsistencies of convenience?

If you want to understand the history of remote viewing and can tolerate the inconsistencies, and the often condescending, patronizing tone, read it. If you want to understand remote viewing I would recommend Psychic Warrior and Mind Trek instead.

I've been exploring some of the topics in WM's book for a couple decades, so I couldn't resist the subject matter of this book. Very interesting topic. I read that the author's an attorney, and he did seem... logical and factual.

I'm also one of those people who will finish a 800 page book I dislike by page 72, simply to finish it. So it's kind of a mystery for me that despite my total fascination for this subject, and despite the book is not that long, this is one of the few books in my entire life I couldn't finish.

Some authors "give more of themselves" in their writing than others. Some, you feel their warmth, or their wisdom, or their wit. Some authors, you can sense even more subtle qualities, such as 'stiffness' or 'expansiveness'.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I just flat out couldn't stand this author. Not his information, which was fine, but the "him" that came through. I felt like slapping all that smug right off him. The quantity of self-congratulatory "gosh aren't I witty when I'm mean" sheer arrogance that came through the writing could darn near make a case for psychic transfer all on its own.

I never felt this way about any book before. I don't know the author, he's probably a wonderful man! But I so detested the feel of him in the reading that I just couldn't get through it. I'm sure this is some obscure issue on my part, and perhaps I've no right to inflict it on him in a public review. But the effect was so strong, it seems like I ought to mention it.

I suppose it does no good to apologize to the author but I feel like I should. Except if we were to converse I fear I might have to hurt him. ;-) Perhaps we are just not compatible personalities.

If you have the ability to read for information only, and shake off any issues of an author's "feel," then by all means, this is a great topic and I'd recommend reading it. (For that reason, I gave it 3 stars.)

There is a place for this book in the library of one interested in the paranormal, psychic intelligence, possible extra-terrestrial intelligence, and most significantly, remote viewing as it was called by the U.S. Military during the period it funded research in this area. Art Bell fans, take note.

This is not a definitive piece. However, it contains well-documented events (e.g., acts of espionage based on Nostradamus by U.S. Intelligence during the Second World War). Madelbaum attempts to place Remote Viewing (final U.S. intelligence report appearing on the World Wide Web in 1998) in a context going back through the history of warfare. And today, a new generation is becoming familiar with the concept of PSYOPS or Psychological Operations, which has been a facet of the War on Global Terrorism and is not likely to vanish from the scene anytime soon.

Some readers will recall Bill Murray's portrayal of Dr. Venkmann who used negative reinforcment (shock) to attempt to "train" fictitious experimental subjects to become more "psychic". In the mid-80s, I watched that film as my own work became perhaps one of the last officially (IRB) sanctioned "threat of negative reinforcement" experiments in the annals of experimental psychology....

I found the book interesting, with good references, not a bad read at all. No secrets of Freemasonry are revealed, nor are some of the "special tactics" of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Gestapo (Geheimstaatspolizei), Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, or the global terrorist movement.

It is a book within a context, and "Remote Viewing" still has its fans. Even on the back cover (paperback version, 2000 imprimatur) is states..."With the flavor of fiction, yet with its foundation in fact, The Psychic Battlefield is the complete history of this use of man's extrasensory poweres in search of the information needed to win wars--hot and cold." Change "the complete" to "an historical exploration" and you've got it.

You can get it cheap, and that's not bad either. The author is an attorney, "practicing psychic" (perhaps the two concepts create an oxymoron), and former intelligence officer. I think that provides ample context.