Agents of Chaos: Thomas King For軋de, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780306923913)

The life and times of High Times' enigmatic founder Thomas King For軋de, an underground newspaper editor and marijuana kingpin who--between police raids, smuggling runs, and outrageous stunts--battled both the US government and fellow radicals.

Cover illustration by legendary comics artist Bill Sienkiewicz.

At the end of the 1960s, the mysterious Tom For軋de 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 panelists, 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, For軋de 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" For軋de 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.

Author: Sean Howe
ISBN-10: 0306923912
ISBN-13: 9780306923913
Publisher: Hachette Books
Language: English
Published: 08/29/2023
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.43lbs
Size: 9.23h x 6.36w x 1.38d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2023
Publishers Weekly 08/07/2023