In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a piece by Premiere magazine about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he was intrigued by the opportunity to revisit a hallmark of American pop culture. Through extensive research, O'Neill discovered evidence of a wild conspiracy theory--one that suggested Manson and the Manson Family had likely been manipulated through government operatives working undercover in a Haight-Ashbury based public health clinic. Searching but never speculative, this book follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson.