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The Sleep Room

A Very British Medical Scandal

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The Sleep Room

By: Jon Stock
Narrated by: Antonia Beamish, Celia Imrie, Richard Armitage
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GUARDIAN AUDIOBOOK OF THE WEEK 'remarkable and haunting testimony'

'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 and chosen as one of the best 80 books to take on holiday

'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

"Richly sourced and admirable in its clarity about the importance of speaking to those who were treated by and knew Sargant," Dr Kate Womersley, The Lancet

'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 Psychology Psychology & Mental Health True Crime Mental Health Espionage War Medicine
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Critic reviews

The Sleep Room is the writer Jon Stock's determined attempt to piece together exactly what went on in Sargant's Sleep Room, which operated from 1964 to 1973... Stock builds on interviews with former patients (including the actress Celia Imrie) and colleagues of Sargant's to make a compelling case that it was home to a scandal that the medical establishment has done its best to forget... In his telling, Sargant emerges as an egomaniacal lech and a dangerous, reckless psychiatrist
Shocking tales from 1960s psychiatry
A shocking account of a very British medical scandal. It's also a damning portrait of a man who, in the name of psychiatric progress, left a trail of broken lives in his wake
Powerful... it is to Stock's great credit that he places patient testimony centre stage
A beautifully researched, wildly unsettling study of a psychiatrist running amok
A gripping medical biography that encompasses sex, drugs, brainwashing, intelligence operations, murder and several scandals
A devastating account of the effects one unchecked psychiatrist had on vulnerable mental patients
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
A gripping and harrowing account of a distinguished medical authority who pushed a therapeutic regime of electroshock, brain surgery and mind-bending drugs to its limit and beyond
A fascinating and compelling account of some of psychiatry's darkest practices that has resonance today
A journalist and thriller writer, perhaps already picturing the inevitable Hulu mini-series, [Stock] makes the most of his subject's lurid fascination, from Sargant's vaulting ego and simian menace... to his private torments.
Written with nuance and tact, The Sleep Room is a chilling exposé into psychiatric care that will resonate deeply [with] readers and, especially, true crime fans.
The Sleep Room underscores the essential need for psychiatric practice and research to be done under the bright lights of regulators and the law, irrespective of who the overseeing clinician happens to be (Kate Womersley)
Stock has written a valuable work that sheds a lot of light on dark areas of British psychiatry and intelligence and points the way for further study. An essential work.
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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hard to believe this is such recent history. Barbaric treatments without any evidential / peer reviewed research. I had not heard of the sleep room or Sergeant before so found this really interesting, narration was also great. Having personal stories interspersed with other chapters really brought home the lived experience of the patients, their resilience and courage in later life was truly inspiring.

fascinating

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Fascinating exploration of the power of a psychiatrist and experiments on patients for the search of mental health treatment.

Excellent book on the historical treatment of mental health

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This is the story of a doctor who was arrogant, self serving, overly ambitious, and dismissive of the potential dangers and actual harm to his patients. Now, he would be struck off and probably in prison. It's also a window into psychiatric treatment at the time and the key players, none of whom are covered in glory.

Read it. It's an eye opener, especially with regards to the appalling and dangerous treatments he administered to women, many of whom were not given the chance to give implied or written consent.
The narration was by several different speakers and each one was excellent.

Absolutely amazed this was allowed to happen!

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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.

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