
Agents of Chaos
Thomas King Forcade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Sean Howe(Author)
Hachette Books (Publisher)
Published on 7. September 2023
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-306-92391-3 (ISBN)
Description
At the end of the 1960s, the mysterious Tom Forcade suddenly appeared, insinuating himself into the top echelons of countercultural politics and assuming control of the Underground Press Syndicate, a coalition of newspapers across the country. Weathering government surveillance and harassment, he embarked on a landmark court battle to obtain White House press credentials. But his audacious exploits-pieing Congressional panellists, stealing presidential portraits, and picking fights with other activists-led to accusations that he was an agent provocateur.
As the era of protest faded and the dark shadows of Watergate spread, Forcade hoped that marijuana could be the path to cultural and economic revolution. Bankrolled by drug-dealing profits, High Times would be the Playboy of pot, dragging a once-taboo subject into the mainstream. The magazine was a travelogue of globe-trotting adventure, a wellspring of news about "the business," and an overnight success. But High Times soon threatened to become nothing more than the "hip capitalism" Forcade had railed against for so long, and he felt his enemies closing in.
Assembled from exclusive interviews, archived correspondences, and declassified documents, Agents of Chaos is a tale of attacks on journalism, disinformation campaigns, governmental secrecy, corporatism, and political factionalism. Its triumphs and tragedies mirror the cultural transformations of 1970s America, wrought by forces that continue to clash in the spaces between activism and power.
As the era of protest faded and the dark shadows of Watergate spread, Forcade hoped that marijuana could be the path to cultural and economic revolution. Bankrolled by drug-dealing profits, High Times would be the Playboy of pot, dragging a once-taboo subject into the mainstream. The magazine was a travelogue of globe-trotting adventure, a wellspring of news about "the business," and an overnight success. But High Times soon threatened to become nothing more than the "hip capitalism" Forcade had railed against for so long, and he felt his enemies closing in.
Assembled from exclusive interviews, archived correspondences, and declassified documents, Agents of Chaos is a tale of attacks on journalism, disinformation campaigns, governmental secrecy, corporatism, and political factionalism. Its triumphs and tragedies mirror the cultural transformations of 1970s America, wrought by forces that continue to clash in the spaces between activism and power.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Little, Brown & Company
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
638 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-306-92391-3 (9780306923913)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2023
Grand Central Publishing
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Sean Howe is the author of the New York Times bestseller and Eisner Award-winning Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Bookforum, Wired, The Economist, and elsewhere. He lives in upstate New York.