The Influencing Machine, expanded edition
James Tilly Matthews and The Air Loom
Will be published approx. on 15. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-1-917674-15-7 (ISBN)
Description
A gripping true tale of madness, technology, politics, and paranoia in Georgian England.
Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Tilly Matthews’s case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror and war.
But Matthews’s case was even stranger than his doctors realized: many of the incredible conspiracies in which he claimed to be involved were entirely real. Caught up in high-level diplomatic intrigues in the chaos of the French revolution, he found himself betrayed by both sides, and in possession of a secret that no one would believe…
Originally published as The Air Loom Gang (2003), the text has been fully revised and updated, with newly discovered source material and previously unpublished images.
Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Tilly Matthews’s case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror and war.
But Matthews’s case was even stranger than his doctors realized: many of the incredible conspiracies in which he claimed to be involved were entirely real. Caught up in high-level diplomatic intrigues in the chaos of the French revolution, he found himself betrayed by both sides, and in possession of a secret that no one would believe…
Originally published as The Air Loom Gang (2003), the text has been fully revised and updated, with newly discovered source material and previously unpublished images.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
18 B&W ILLUS.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-917674-15-7 (9781917674157)
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
Persons
Mike Jay is an author, cultural historian, and curator who specializes in the history of science, medicine, and the mind, particularly the cultural and historical uses of psychotropic substances.
Oliver Sacks (1933–2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. He wrote best-selling books about his patients with neurological disorders, such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
Oliver Sacks (1933–2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. He wrote best-selling books about his patients with neurological disorders, such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.