THE BLACK ROOM. de Wilson, Colin - 1971

London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971. 348 pp, 8" H. "After the ICBM, the ABM, the laser, and chemical and biological warfare, the next challenge for agents of every nation and power bloc must be the Black Room. Fail in that, and what chance have you against the cunning sophistications of thought warfare, brainwashing and consciousness expansion used by the superagents of Station K? Kit Butler, composer in his late thirties, is drawn by a girl-friend into a secret interaction group operating in the remote Highlands of Scotland, where experiments in sensory deprivation are probing the frontiers of the mind. Butler has long been interested in freeing consciousness from the restrictions of everyday life, and so he agrees to help British Intelligence. The enemy is the international spy ring Station K, the plot takes Butler to a Prague seething with espionage organizations of every conceivable combination of initials, and eventually to Staufmann, the ugly, semi-mythic, incredibly powerful leader of Station K. Colin Wilson's imagination is even more fertile than usual in this spy-thriller, and underlying the taut plot are some challenging ideas. In America experimental Black Rooms have already been constructed, and sensory deprivation is proving to have radical effects on human consciousness." A group of tiny raised areas on front papstedown causing tiny dents in adjacent pages up to approx. page 8, very light browning to edges of page margins, light browning to fore-edge and top edge of text block, a few tiny light stains on top of text block, book has a light spine lean. Dust jacket has light to moderate edge browning, light edge wear/wrinkling, small edge chip and several small edge tears, protected in a mylar sleeve.. First Edition.. Hard Cover. Very Good-/Good.