The Sleep Room cover art

The Sleep Room

A Very British Medical Scandal

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The Sleep Room

By: Jon Stock
Narrated by: Richard Armitage, Celia Imrie, Antonia Beamish
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About this listen

 'Shocking... a damning portrait of a man who, in the name of psychiatric progress, left a trail of broken lives in his wake' Telegraph, five stars

'Compelling' Sunday Times

'A gripping expose' Financial Times

'Lacerating' Blake Morrison, Guardian Book of the Day

'A beautifully researched, wildly unsettling study of a psychiatrist running amok' Sam Knight, author of The Premonitions Bureau

'Shocking investigation' The Times, chosen as a best book of 2025

The Royal Waterloo Hospital, London in the 1960s. Six young women lie asleep on low beds. Day and night no longer exist, extinguished by a potent cocktail of antipsychotic, sedative and anti-depressant drugs. The 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 - lauded by Robert Graves and Aldous Huxley as well regularly appearing on the BBC. When Sargant died in 1988, the obituaries were glowing.

But since then, women treated without their consent and with often horrific side-effects lasting decades have been campaigning to tell the truth about Sargant. Author Jon Stock tells these women's stories as well delving into the murky history of Sargant's links with the CIA and M15, 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.

'A devastating account of the effects one unchecked psychiatrist had on vulnerable mental patients.'
Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors

'A gripping medical biography that encompasses sex, drugs, brainwashing, intelligence operations, murder and several scandals' Frank Tallis, author of Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna and the Discovery of the Modern Mind

'A chilling case study in dangerous psychiatry, Stock's gripping exposé of the invasive and reckless interventions inflicted on women in the Sleep Room will keep you wide awake.' Cordelia Fine, author of Patriarchy Inc. and Testosterone Rex©2025 Jon Stock (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK True Crime Mental Health Espionage War Medicine

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All stars
Most relevant
Well researched and informative. The narrator was very clear and made it a very good listen.

Fascinating

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This is not an easy listen but uncovers the story of a man who played god with people’s lives, pursuing his own plans whilst ignoring the patient he was experimenting on as a person. It’s a real eye opener on how horrific treatments were allowed without a patient’s consent. It is narrated beautifully and sympathetically by Richard Armitage, who just tells the story without overdramatising it. The addition of Celia Imrie recounting her time under William Sargant’s ‘care’ is particularly moving and I applaud her strength in contributing to this book.

How was this allowed?

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liked the personal experiences which added gravitas to the narrative. Also the cohesive chronological order

factual accuracy

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Quite rightly Dr Sargant was criticised for not accepting controlled trials as the mainstay of determining whether a treatment worked or not and now this account of his work adopts a similar approach to his life and work. The Post hoc ergo propter hoc argument does weaken this book as a factual account but that said it is fascinating for those interested in recent psychiatric history and given the meticulous research it is an expose of the medical world of the post war period when the London medical establishment ruled the medical world and were given far too much power and not enough accountability.
I feel very sad for those young people mostly women who were subjected to Dr Sargant’s treatments and hopefully we are better at understanding the causative factors in their distress today.But the book is detailed fascinating and will no doubt join the anti psychiatry essential reading list.

A reappraisal of an eminent psychiatrist who was both flawed and courageous…..

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A truly amazing and excellent book. Exquisitely narrated which makes for such easy listening. Everyone should listen to this. It's truly horrifying and disturbing to hear what happened to people with mental illness years ago. This is an exceptional audiobook which was extremely well documented and researched. A mesmerising and educational listen.

Excellent. Everyone should read and listen to this.

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