The Day of St. Anthony's Fire

John Fuller wrote a few ghost and UFO books - this is none of them, but rather an intriguing description of the incredible events which happened in the French countryside in the 1950s.Ergotism is a form of poisoning stemming from a parasitic fungus growing on rye. By means of improper storage and an incompetent central flour distribution bureaucracy, a small town in France, Pont St. Esprit, ended up with a big chunk of poisoned flour. Bakers baked their bread with it, and the townspeople ate it - disaster ensued. Depending on the amount of bread they ate, different people received different dosages. Some became simply sleepless and wired, while others died and some experienced full blown hallucinations.Yes, hallucinations similar to those evoked by LSD - a substance which only a decade earlier had first been synthesized not too far from Pont St. Esprit, in Switzerland. And LSD is chemically based on the active compound in the ergot fungus. Ergotism ravaged Europe regularly in the middle ages - the 1951 outbreak in Pont St. Esprit was likely the last of this strange episodes, throwing whole communities into a psychedelic rage they did not understand. Only a few years later would LSD make its way out of the Sandoz laboratories into the brains of the 60s enlightenment seekers. In a way, the episode described in this book is a passing of the guard of the role of ergotamines in human culture.Fuller writes very well. He describes some of the history, village life and landscape surrounding Pont St. Esprit, and gives vivid, personal descriptions of the intoxication that caught the villagers. He also describes in a lot of detail the struggle against the ignorant bureaucracy in their quest for compensation for their suffering. A well written book about a highly unusual episode.

This true account is well worth reading. The events were from 1953 and received very little publicity internationally as it was swept under the rug by the French Govt.I recently watched Da Vinci's Demons and the plague of red ergot in the area lead me to research and this book was referred to. I was not aware that ergotism was a natural form of LSD and its mind bending effects. This book lays it on the line.

The book is wonderful and informative for my research.The price, just under $50, was outrageous. But, I had to have it so I had no choice.

My husband had read this book decades ago, being a history addict, and found it very informative about illness and how it was viewed then. Amazing story of the source of death due to war - but not guns and weapons.

very good book, good transaction

I read it when if came out in 1968. Just as good fro a second read.Couldn't put it down either time!

what a great book. I love this author. I can only imagine tripping out in those particular circumstances. I wish...

I have read this book before, some years ago. It is unusual, engrossing, factual. It was worth reading once again.